THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


.- 


1 


• 


i 


TALES  OF  WAR  TIMES 


Being  the  Adventures  of 
Thomas  Hinds  During  the 
American  Civil  War.  :  :  :  : 


Herald 

Water-town,  N.  Y. 
1904. 


COPYRIGHTED. 


CIOVI 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  adventures  of  Thomas  Hinds  were  in  part 
published  in  the  Watertown  (N.  Y.)  Herald  and  at- 
tracted so  much  attention  that  it  was  decided  to 
place  them  in  permanent  form. 

Coming  to  this  country  from  Ireland  a  small  boy 
tin  dresses,  and  within  ten  years  donning  the  uni- 
form of  Uncle  Sam  as  a  soldier,  his  several  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  get  mustered  in,  his  capture, 

Cflj 

\1     prison  life  and  attempts  to  escape, — finally  success- 
>.     ful, — furnish  the  material  for  one   of   the   richest 

romances  of  adventures  in  America  history. 
3        Herein  is  given  tihe  story  just  as  Mr.  Hinds  told 

it  himself,  sitting  at  his  desk  in  the  office  of  his 
^     foundry  and  machine  shop  at  Malone,  N  .Y.      No 

in 

^1    attempt  has  been  made  to  spoil  the  story  by  making 

o 

•   of  it  a  literary  effort.     It  is  a  plain,  unvarnished 

tale  of  a  time  which  has  passed  into  history,  being 

o   the  adventures  of  a  young  Irish  lad  who  had  the 

&   fighting  blood  of  his  ancestors,  the  ready  wit  and 

2    resourcefulness  of  his  race. 

g  Fine,  halftone  pictures  of  sixteen  of  the  most 
£J  famous  battles  of  the  Civil  War,  with  brief  descrip- 
tions of  each,  are  added  for  the  purpose  of  instruct- 
ing the  children  and  bringing  vividly  to  the  mind 
of  their  elders  the  days  when  their  country's  life 
was  at  stake. 


448789 


THOMAS  HINDS. 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


Being  the  Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds  in 
the  American  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER  ONE. 

Tom  Hinds  Tells  of  His  First  Attempt  to  Join  the 
Army  of  the  North — His  Martial  Spirit  Stronger 
Than  Love  of  Home. 

My  parents  removed  to  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  from 
Worcester,  Mass.,  in  1860  and  we  were  living  there 
when  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  commenced  in  April, 
1861. 

Philadelphia  was  one  of  the  first  cities  to  prepare 
for  the  conflict  and  there  were  companies  and  regi- 
ments raised  for  three  months'  service  on  the  first 
call  of  President  Lincoln. 

I  took  a  special  interest  in  seeing  them  drill  in 
Franklin  Square  and  other  places.  I  also  followed 
the  soldiers  when  on  march  through  the  Streets. 

I  little  dreamed  then  that  later  I  would  have  the 
opportunity  to  enlist  as  a  soldier. 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


One  night,  about  the  last  of  May,  I  was  at  Thir- 
teenth and  Race  streets  on  my  way  home  when  I 
was  attracted  by  a  fife  and  drum  and  going  into  the 
place  I  saw  both  men  and  boys  enlisting.  I  put 
my  name  in  and  instead  of  going  home  I  staid  there 
that  night,  sleeping  on  the  floor  with  the  other  re- 
cruits. 

This  was  my  first  night  away  from  home  without 
my  parents'  knowledge;  but  being  full  of  the  mar- 
tial spirit  I  gave  very  little  thought  to  home  or  pa- 
rents. I  thought  I  had  become  a  man  all  at  once 
on  being  accepted  as  a  recruit. 

The  next  day  we  were  sent  from  the  place  we 
were  in  to  the  Girard  House,  which  had  been  one  of 
the  leading  hotels  of  the  city,  on  Chestnut  street 
opposite  the  Continental  Hotel  near  Ninth  street. 
The  building  was  unoccupied  at  the  time  and  was 
a  fine  place  to  camp  owing  to  the  large  number  of 
rooms  and  baths  in  the  house. 

Next  day  I  was  standing  guard  duty  on  the  front 
door  of  the  hotel,  armed  with  an  old  sword,  when 
my  mother  and  father  came  down  the  street  look- 
ing for  me.  After  a  talk  with  the  major  command- 
ing I  went  home  with  my  parents,  feeling  more  de- 
termined than  ever  to  join  the  army,  but  I  had  be- 
come very  particular  about  the  branch  of  service  I 
would  join.  My  first  enlistment  was  in  the  infant- 


[2] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


ry  and  I  decided  I  would  be  a  cavalry  man  if  they 
would  take  me. 

About  a  week  after  going  home  with  my  parents 
I  found  a  recruiting  station  at  Second  and  Dock 
streets  at  a  beer  garden  where  they  wanted  men  for 
cavalry  and  were  going  to  camp  that  same  day. 

I  was  accepted  as  a  recruit  and  went  that  even- 
ing to  Haddenfield,  N.  J.,  a  very  pretty  little  vil- 
lage about  ten  miles  from  Camden  on  the  Cape  Miay 
railroad. 

On  entering  the  camp  I  met  a  shopmate  of  my 
father  who  belonged  to  a  campany  that  was  going 
back  to  Philadelphia  that  same  evening.  I  told 
him  -not  to  tell  my  parents  where  I  was,  and  he 
promised  me  faithfully  he  would  not  tell,  but  I 
think  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  inform  my  pa- 
rents where  I  was,  for  I  was  there  but  a  few  days 
when  my  mother  and  father  arrived  one  morning. 

After  a  long  talk  with  Capt.  Davis  of  my  com- 
pany and  trying  to  persuade  me  to  go  home,  I  was 
so  determined  to  be  a  soldier  that  they  went  home 
without  me  and  I  felt  very  happy  to  think  I  could 
stay. 

A  few  days  afterwards  my  mother  and  sister 
called  and  after  entreating  me  to  go  home,  the 
captain,  being  touched  by  their  appeals,  advised 
me  to  go  with  them,  which  I  did  very  reluctantly. 

After  going  home  I   went  to  work  in  the  foundry 

[3] 


Tales  of  af  Times. 


and  had  been  there  a  couple  of  days  when  the  war 
fever  struck  me  again  and  one  Saturday  night  I 
started  for  the  Callowhill  street  ferry  on  the  Dela- 
ware river  to  cross  to  Camden  and  go  to  the  cainp 
again. 

So  determined  was  I  to  get  there  that  I  watched 
my  chance  and  ran  by  the  man  that  took  the  tickets 
on  the  boat,  for  I  had  no  money  to  pay  my  fare. 

After  reaching  Camden  I  started  for  the  camp 
on  the  railroad.  Arriving  there  about  12  or  1 
o'clock  at  night,  I  found  all  asleep  and  being  tired 
from  the  long  walk  I  lay  on  the  floor  until 
morning. 

The  boys  were  all  surprised  to  see  ine  back  again. 

As  the  captain  said  nothing  against  my  staying 
I  felt  quite  secure. 

After  a  few  days  we  were  sent  to  Philadelphia, 
where  we  were  quartered  in  some  vacant  houses  on 
Callowhill  street  near  Fifth.  We  had  our  meals 
at  some  of  the  cheap  restaurants  in  the  vicinity. 

While  here  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  took  place. 

I  well  remember  reading  of  the  reverse  the  Union 
troops  'had  met  and  how  badly  I  felt  over  it.  The 
war  was  beginning  to  look  serious  to  me.  I  felt 
as  if  the  Union  was  almost  defeated  already;  but 
I  still  wanted  to  be  a  soldier. 


[4] 


CHAPTER  TWO. 

Tom  Gets  Mustered  In — His  Father  Musters  Him 
Out  Again  and  Offers  to  Go  to  the  War  in  Tom's 
Place — Fails  Several  Times. 

We  had  not  yet  been  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service  and  after  a  week  or  ten  days  we  were 
brought  to  a  large  building  at  Sixteenth  and  Fil- 
bert streets  to  be  mustered  in. 

This  was  what  would  decide  my  military  career 
and  I  was  very  nervous  about  it. 

When  the  officer  was  ready  to  muster  he  said  all 
under  twenty-one  years  of  age  would  have  to  get  a 
written  consent  from  their  parents  or  guardians. 

I  gave  niy  age  as  18  although  but  sixteen  at  the 
time. 

The  officer  wrote  a  form  of  consent  for  my  pa- 
rents to  sign  and  some  one  of  them  gave  me  money 
for  car  fare  and  told  me  to  hurry  back.  I  started 
for  home  as  they  supposed,  but  knowing  that  I 
could  not  get  the  consent  of  my  parents  I  went 
around  a  square  and  coming  to  a  grocery  storei  on 
the  corner  of  Race  street,  I  bought  a  couple  -of 
peaches  and  ate  them.  I  staid  around  the  place 
long  enough  to  get  home  and  back.  I  asked  the 
grocery  man  for  'his  pen  and  ink  and  signed  the 
written  consent  of  my  father  and  mother  for  them. 

When  I  thought  it  about  time  to  go  back  I  ran  up 
the  stairs  to  the  mustering  in  room,  and  appeared 
to  be  out  of  breath  in  order  to  get  back  in  good 
time.  I  gave  the  paper  to  the  officer  and  he  mus- 

[5] 


Tale  of  Wat  Time. 


tered  nue  in  alone  for  all  the  others  had  been  mus- 
tered already. 

I  presume  the  officer  thought  the  consent  was 
genuine.  Anyhow  it  cleared  him  of  breaking  the 

law. 

I  was  at  last  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  soldiers  and  felt 
that  I  was  as  much  of  a  man  as  any  of  them. 

We  joined  the  regiment  which  was  known  then 
as  the  Cameron  Dragoons  named  in  honor  of  Simeon 
Cameron  who  was  then  Secretary  of  War. 

We  were  camped  in  a  long  field  north  of  Girard 
College  on  the  Ridge  road  known  as  Ridge  avenue. 
While  here  we  commenced  drilling  and  other  du- 
ties; some  of  the  company  mutinied  but  the  others 
subdued  them  and  arrested  the  ring  leaders.  Some 
of  these  were  court  martial ed;  had  half  their  hair 
shaved  and  were  drummed  out  of  camp.  To  me  it 
was  a  most  degrading  sight.  However,  it  was  an 
army  law  and  must  be  enforced. 

•After  being  at  this  camp  about  a  month  and  as 
the  regiment  was  about  to  leave  for  Washington 
some  one  told  my  people  where  I  was.  My 
father  procured  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  from  the 
city  court  to  take  me  from  the  regiment;  and  com- 
ing to  the  camp  with  the  policeman  or  court  officer 
he  served  the  papers  on  the  Colonel.  I  was  ordered 
by  my  captain  to  take  off  the  uniform  and  put  on 
the  citizen's  clothes  brought  by  my  father  and  or- 

[6] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Mincts. 


tiered  to  go  home  with  him. 

I  cried  about  having  to  go,  but  it  was  no  use.  I 
was  no  longer  a  soldier  and  it  nearly  broke  my 
heart  to  leave  the  camp  for  Capt.  Davis  treated  me 
very  kindly  and  I  expected  to  be  a  non  comissioned 
officer  at  his  hands  for  he  gave  me  the  greatest 
privileges,  often  sending  me  on  his  business  to  the 
city. 

I  felt  I  was  solid  with  the  captain.  When  he 
iirst  heard  of  my  father  coming  to  take  me  home 
he  asked  if  I  wanted  to  go.  I  told  him  I  did  not 
want  to  go  home  whereupon  he  sent  me  to  his  tent 
and  said  to  consider  myself  under  arres't.  I  felt 
quite  safe,  but  after  the  colonel  had  sent  for  the 
captain  he  learned  that  the  court  officer  would  ar- 
rest the  colonel  unless  I  was  turned  over  to  my 
father  and  therefore  had  to  release  me. 

I  went  home  and  of  course  was  glad  to  be  with 
my  folks  again. 

My  father,  although  a  man  of  fifty  at  the  time 
offered  to  go  to  the  war  providing  I  would  agree 
to  stay  at  home ;  but  I  would  not  promise  to  do  so. 

I  went  back  to  my  work  in  the  foundry  and  had 
been  home  for  four  or  five  days  when  one  Saturday 
evening  while  walking  toward  home  on  Market 
street  I  was  attracted  to  a  recruiting  office  by  the 
drums  and  bugles.  I  went  in  and  found  they  were 
recruiting  for  the  cavalry  and  learning  they  were 

[7] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


going  to  Washington  that  night  I  gave  my  name 
as  a  recruit,  although  I  had  no  intentions  of  going 
when  I  first  went  in.  The  fact  of  going  to  Washing- 
ton that  night  was  the  reason  I  enrolled. 

We  arrived  in  Washington  the  next  day  and 
camped  on  Seventh  street  north  of  the  city.  After 
being  here  about  a  week,  Major  Gen.  Wood,  quite  an 
old  man,  came  to  the  camp  to  muster  the  men  into 
the  service.  With  him  was  a  young  commissioned 
officer  to  do  the  mustering  in,  as  I  understood  it 
under  the  general's  instructions. 

T  took  my  position  in  the  rear  rank  for  muster, 
being  afraid  I  might  not  be  accepted.  The  officer 
called  on  all  under  21  years  of  age  to  step  out  of 
the  ranks.  Some  did  step  out,  while  others  with 
myself  stood  where  we  were,  as  if  we  were  over  21. 
This  was  no  use,  for  the  mustering  officer  picked  us 
out,  asked  our  ages  and  not  having  the  cheek  to  tell 
a  big  lie  I  told  him  I  was  19  going  on  20.  I  was  in- 
formed that  I  would  have  to  get  a  written  consent 
of  my  parents.  I  told  him  I  had  no  parents.  It 
was  no  use.  I  was  rejected  and  turned  away  from 
the  camp  very  much  discouraged.  As  there  were 
a  number  of  cavalry  regiments  nearby  I  concluded 
to  try  again. 

I  found  that  the  Cameron  Dragoons  which  I  be- 
longed to  in  Philadelphia  had  come  to  Washington 
and  were  camped  near  by.  I  felt  quite  sure  that 

[8] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


Capt.  Davis  of  my  former  company  would  take  me 
back  again  if  he  knew  I  was  there,  so  I  called  on  the 
company  and  made  a  long  visit.  Being  well  receiv- 
ed by  Capt.  Davis  I  explained  my  position  to  him 
and  asked  to  be  taken  into  the  company  again.  He 
told  me  he  would  be  pleased  to  take  me  back  but  if 
the  colonel  knew  of  it  he  would  be  very  angry  and 
would  not  allow  him.  The  fact  that  the  court  officer 
threatened  to  arrest  him  was  the  main  reason  that 
the  colonel  would  not  let  me  back.  If  I  got  into 
the  old  company  I  would  not  have  to  take  the 
chances  of  mustering  in  again. 

I  was  told  that  the  first  Jersey  Cavalry  was  not 
far  away  and  wanted  more  recruits.  I  went  there 
and  applied  for  admission  in  one  of  the  companies. 
They  told  me  they  wanted  picked  men  and  I  was 
handed  over  to  a  surgeon  for  examination.  He  said 
that  I  filled  the  bill  physically,  but  was  afraid  that  I 
would  have  trouble  in  getting  mustered  in,  owing 
to  my  age,  which  I  told  him  was  past  18  years.  The 
next  day  I  was  sent  to  the  war  department  to  be 
mustered  in.  At  the  department  I  was  asked  the 
usual  questions.  I  told  the  officer  I  was  20  going 
on  21  and  he  said  I  must  get  a  written  consent  from 
my  parents.  I  told  him  I  had  no  parents.  He 
said  I  would  have  to  get  my  guardian's  consent.  I 
said  I  had  no  guardian,  which  made  him  laugh  and 
he  said : 

"I  have  seen  you  before,  my  boy,  and  I  cannot 
muster  you  in." 

[9] 


CHAPTER  THREE. 
Tom  Makes  Another  Attempt  to  Become  a  Soldier 

and  Lands  in  Prison — His  Trials  Increase. 

I  was  balked  again  and  a  more  crestfallen  boy 
would  be  hard  to  find  for  it  seemed  as  if  everything 
was  against  me. 

After  leaving  the  war  department  I  stopped 
where  the  state  army  and  navy  buildings  now  stand. 
There  was  then  a  high  iron  fence  around  the  lot. 
I  told  my  tale  of  woe  to  some  soldiers  of  Cole's  cav- 
alrv  who  were  camped  inside  the  enclosure.  They 
wanted  me  to  join  their  company.  They  were  sure 
they  would  get  me  mustered  in. 

I  came  to  the  conclusion  there  was  no  use  trying 
to  cret  into  the  army  . 

On  my  way  to  the  capitol  I  met  a  number  of  com- 
panies who  said  I  would  pass  all  right,  but  I  made 
up  my  mind  I  would  walk  back  to  my  home  and 
stay  there.  As  I  had  had  nothing  to  eat  since 
morning  I  was  very  hungry,  and  as  I  left  the  steps 
of  the  capitol  I  started  toward  home  a  very  hungry, 
discouraged  boy. 

After  getting  a  mile  or  so  from  Washington  I 
met  a  man  who  worked  on  the  section  of  railroad. 
I  told  him  my  story  and  after  mustering  courage 

[10] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


enough  spoke  of  my  hunger.  He  went  to  his  house 
and  brought  me  what  they  called  a  short  cake.  I 
was  very  thankful  to  him  and  relished  the  cake. 
This  was  the  first  time  I  ever  had  to  ask  for  any- 
thing to  eat  and  I  will  never  forget  it.  I  had  no 
money  to  buy  anything. 

After  going"  on  the  railroad  to  the  edge  of  Blad- 
ensburg  I  was  arrested  by  a  guard  and  sent  to  the 
colonel's  headquarters.  After  being  questioned  by 
Col.  Clark  of  a  Massachusetts  regiment,  and  learn- 
ing from  me  that  my  home  was  in  Philadelphia,  he 
sent  me  with  a  guard  to  Col.  John  Murphy's  regi- 
ment, the  29th  Pennsylvania,  known  afterward  as 
Paddy  Murphy  Regulars. 

I  was  put  in  the  guard  house  and  kept  over  night. 
The  other  prisoners  hearing  I  was  from  Philadel- 
phia, used  me  very  well. 

The  next  morning  the  officer  of  the  day,  after 
talking  with  me  a  while,  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  I  was  not  a  rebel  spy  and  released  me.  He  di- 
rected me  which  road  to  take  for  Baltimore  and 
being  so  pleased  to  get  away  I  started  without  a 
bite  to  eat,  although  they  had  just  brought  some 
bread  and  hot  coffee  for  the  prisoners. 

After  walking  a  number  of  miles  I  thought  I 
would  try  the  railroad  and  get  a  ride  on  a  freight 
train.  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  get  one  going  in 
my  direction.  We  had  gone  but  a  few  miles  when 

[ii] 


Talcs  of  Wat  Times. 


one  of  the  trainmen  came  along  and  told  me  to  get 
off  at  the  next  station  which  I  did ;  but  got  on  again 
on  the  last  car.  This  car  had  a  hand  brake  wheel 
at  the  end  of  it.  As  we  neared  Ananapolis  Junction, 
knowing  there  would  be  troops  there,  I  took  off  my 
coat  and  took  hold  of  the  brake  wheel  as  if  I  was 
one  of  the  trainmen.  The  train  was  a  long  one, 
mostly  empty  cars.  They  were  under  good  speed 
by  the  time  the  last  end  reached  the  junction  and  of 
course  the  troops  would  not  look  for  any  one  there. 
As  we  passed  the  junction  I  worked  the  brake  wheel 
back  and  forth  to  show  I  was  working.  Some  of 
the  soldiers  pointed  their  guns  at  me  but  I  pre- 
tended not  to  notice  them  for  I  did  not  think  they 
would  fire. 

After  a  ride  of  perhaps  15  miles  or  so  I  was  dis- 
covered again  by  the  train  men  and  ordered  to  get 
off  at  once. 

As  the  train  was  going  quite  fast  I  was  a  little 
afraid  to  jump  but  it  was  a  case  of  jumping  or  be- 
ing thrown  off  so  I  jumped  into  a  clay  bank  and 
was  more  scared  than  hurt. 

I  then  took  to  the  pike  and  being  quite  hungry, 
I  ate  plenty  of  peaches  which  I  found  along  the 
road  at  nearly  all  the  plantations.  I  could  see 
hundreds  of  slaves  working  on  the  plantations 
along  the  route.  There  were  cantalopes,  musk  mel- 
ons and  tomatoes,  but  not  having  ever  eaten  those 

[12] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


before  I  did  not  care  for  them.  The  peaches  were 
all  right,  but  failed  to  satisfy  my  hunger. 

When  within  a  few  miles  of  Baltimore  I  met  a 
young  man  who  was  out  hunting.  He  asked  me 
where  I  was  going  and  I  told  him  niy  troubles.  He 
said  he  was  from  Philadelphia  and  knew  where  I 
claimed  to  live.  He  gave  me  10  cents,  all  the  money 
he  had,  although  I  did  not  ask  him  for  anything. 
When  near  the  old  covered  bridge  just  outside  the 
city  limits  I  invested  my  ten  cents  in  bread  and 
butter  for  I  was  very  hungry  and  tired.  I  enjoyed 
my  lunch. 

I  went  into  the  city  of  Baltimore,  reaching  there 
about  dark.  Going  up  to  a  policeman  I  told  him 
I  would  like  a  night's  lodging.  I  told  him  my  tale 
of  woe  and  said  I  was  going  back  home,  because 
they  would  not  take  me  in  the  army.  He  wanted 
to  know  if  I  cared  to  enlist.  I  said  I  did,  but  it  was 
of  no  use  for  I  could  not  get  mustered  in.  He  said 
he  would  bring  me  to  a  recruiting  place  where  he 
was  sure  I  would  go  through  all  right.  I  went 
with  him  into  a  saloon  near  by  wrhere  there  was  a 
recruiting  officer  who  was  recruiting  for  the  First 
Maryland  Cavalry.  They  took  my  name  and  I  went 
with  the  policeman  to  the  station  which  I  after- 
wards learned  was  on  Ann  street. 


[13] 


CHAPTER  FOUR. 

Tom  Describes  His  Experiences  in  Prison — Dis- 
arms a  Guard  With  a  Stick  in  Open  Fight— He 
Becomes  a  Soldier. 

I  was  placed  in  a  large  room  alone,  after  being 
in  for  a  half  'hour  they  brought  me  a  lunch  from 
the  saloon,  after  eating  which  I  felt  quite  content- 
ed and  from  the  assurance  of  the  police  officer  I 
thought  I  might  succeed  in  getting  into  the  army 
after  all. 

Feeling  somewhat  elated  over  my  prospects  I  laid 
down  on  one  of  the  settees  that  lined  around  the 
room.  I  expected  the  police  would  provide  a  bed 
for  strangers,  but  I  was  mistaken. 

I  can  never  forget  the  night  I  spent  at  that  sta- 
tion house.  About  nine  o'clock  they  brought  in  a 
drunken  man  and  woman.  The  women  had  cells 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  hallway  while  the  men 
were  put  in  the  same  room  with  me.  From  this 
time  until  toward  morning  they  were  bringing  them, 
in.  Some  were  like  mad  men  and  had  to  be  chained 
to  the  floor  to  keep  'them  from  killing  the  other  pris- 
oners. I  was  in  terror  of  these  people,  for  I  never 
heard  such  swearing  and  yelling  in  my  life. 
This  was  a  new  experience  to  me,  I  crouched  up 

[14] 


\ 

Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


into  a  little  corner  on  one  of  the  settees  and  expect- 
ed every  minute  some  of  the  drunken  men  would 
kick  me  or  hit  me.  There  was  no  light,  but  through 
the  grating  of  the  door.  They  could  not  see  who 
they  were  kicking  or  hitting. 

I  presume  the  lowest  of  the  city  were  among  the 
prisoners.  Not  only  did  the  men  swear  and  rave 
but  the  women  could  be  heard  using  as  bad  lan- 
guage as  the  men. 

Toward  morning  I  went  to  sleep  and  when  I 
awoke  I  never  saw  such  a  sight.  There  were  men 
with  black  eyes,  faces  covered  with  blood,  some 
with  their  clothes  badly  torn.  There  were  both 
young  and  old  men  among  them.  Some  of  them 
that  were  the  most  boisterous  on  entering  were 
as  meek  as  lambs.  The  room  and  the  people  were 
disgusting  to  look  at. 

About  nine  o'clock  we  were  all  brought  before 
the  magistrate  in  the  same  building.  Not  only 
the  men  but  the  women  were  all  in  court.  Each 
one  was  presented  to  the  justice  who  fined  most  all 
of  them  or  sent  them  to  some  other  lockup.  They 
were  a  sorry  looking  crowd,  as  each  went  to  the 
desk  and  the  charges  were  made  against  them. 

I  waited  for  the  last.  No  one  was  there  to  tell 
what  crime  I  had  committed  so  the  judge  asked  me 
how  I  came  to  be  in  the  place.  I  told  him,  expect- 
ing I  would  be  let  go,  but  when  he  learned  I  had 

[15] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


enlisted  he  ordered  the  officer  to  take  me  back 
again.  This  I  found  out  after  was  to  hold  me  until 
they  would  come  around  with  the  recruits  and  pick 
me  up  on  the  way  to  camp. 

I  was  placed  in  a  cell  that  had  been  cleaned  and 
mopped  in  which  was  one  other  prisoner,  a  young 
man  well  dressed  and  very  stylish  looking.  He 
seemed  very  sociable  and  told  me  that  his  people 
were  wealthy  and  had  him  locked  up  to  get  him 
out  of  a  drunken  spree. 

Shortly  after*  this  a  very  nice  looking  young  lady 
was  admitted.  She  had  a  basket  with  a  lunch  for 
the  young  man  which  she  divided  with  me.  I  ate 
nearly  all  of  it  for  he  preferred  what  the  lady 
brought  in  a  bottle.  There  were  no  provisions 
made  by  the  recruiting  officer  or  policeman  to  fur- 
nish me  food,  and  but  for  the  lunch  and  fruit 
brought  by  the  young  woman  I  would  have  been 
very  hungry.  His  lady  brought  in  the  basket  sev- 
eral times  during  the  day  and  from  the  way  the 
young  man  felt  I  judged  she  brought  a  bottle  of 
liquor  each  time. 

About  4  p.  m.  they  called  for  me  to  go  to  camp. 
I  found  they  had  a  dozen  or  more  recruits  that 
had  ben  picked  up  throughout  the  city. 

After  about  a  two  mile  walk,  we  arrived  at  Camp 
Carroll.  The  camp  was  on  historic  ground  for  it 
was  on  the  old  Charles  Carroll  estate  just  west  of 

[16] 


Battle   of  Willipmsburg. 


See  Appendix. 


Battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain. 


See  Appendix. 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


Baltimore.  The  old  mansion  was  still  there  but 
parts  of  it  were  in  ruins.  I  was  sometime  after- 
ward confined  for  a  couple  of  days  in  part  of  the 
same  mansion  which  was  used  as  a  guard  house. 
It  had  no  roof  and  only  the  stone  walls  for  protec- 
tion. The  cause  of  my  being  confined  was  because 
I  went  by  a  man  on  guard  at  the  back  end  of  our 
company's  horse  stable  and  when  I  attempted  to 
come  back  the  guard,  a  German,  tried  to  stop  me. 

My  orderly  sargent  told  the  guard  to  hit  me  with 
his  sabre.  This  made  me  angry  and  I  picked  up  a 
hay  bale  stick  and  succeeded  in  closing  in  on  the 
guard  and  taking  his  sabre  away  from  him.  My 
victory  was  short  lived  for  the  orderly  called  for 
assistance  and  marched  me  off  to  the  old  Carroll 
mansion  guard  house  for  this  breach  of  military 
discipline. 

I  was  very  angry  at  this  treatment  and  felt  as  if 
I  would  like  to  be  at  home.  After  a  few  days  stay 
in  the  guard  house  I  was  released  without  further 
punishment  and  soon  got  all  over  my  feelings 
toward  the  officer. 


[17] 


CHAPTER  FIVE. 

Tom  Tells  of  His  New  Companions  and  How  Passes 
Were  Manufactured — Escapes  Some  Punishment 
This  regiment,  like  most  of  the  regiments  recruit- 
ed in  the  city,  was  made  up  of  all  kinds  of  men  and 
of  all  nationalities.  The  company  to  which  I  was 
assigned  to  was  Co.  A.,  Captain  Merritt  command- 
ing. He  was  one  of  the  best  drilled  officers  in  the 
service,  having  been  before  the  war  Drill  Master 
in  the  U.  S.  Cavalry  School  at  Carlisle,  Pa.  Our 
1st  Lieut.  Dorsey  had  been  with  Gen.  Walker,  the 
Fillibuster  in  Nicarauga  before  the  war. 

We  drilled  on  foot  daily,  both  sabre  and  foot 
drill,  and  many  the  time  my  wrist  was  lame  trying 
to  learn  the  sabre  drill;  but  I  learned  the  drills 
about  as  fast  as  any  of  the  recruits. 

We  were  not  mustered  into  the  U.  S.  Army  until 
Sept.  28th,  1861.  I  felt  very  uneasy  about  the  out- 
come of  this.  I  was  the  youngest  boy  in  the  com- 
pany, being  about  three  months  over  16  years,  and 
if  I  did  not  pass  muster  I  would  have  to  go  home. 

When  the  officer  came  to  muster  in  the  men  we 
were  all  drawn  up  in  two  lines.  I  took  my  posi- 
tion in  the  rear  rank,  not  wanting  to  be  where  the 


[18] 


Actvefttutes  of  Tom  Hinds. 


officer  could  see  me.  We  were  ordered  to  open 
ranks.  Then  the  officer  ordered  all  under  21  years 
of  age  to  step  to  the  rear.  Some  of  the  boys  who 
had  got  homesick  did  as  ordered,  but  some  of  us 
staid  in  the  ranks.  Then  the  Captain  ordered  all 
back  in  the  ranks  again  and  he  said  to  the  muster- 
ing officer  (who  was  a  young  man  and  new  at  the 
business)  that  he  brought  him  there  to  muster  the 
men  into  the  United  States  Army  and  he  wanted' 
him  to  do  so.  After  a  little  more  talk  the  officer 
mustered  most  of  us  in. 

Once  more  I  felt  secure  in  the  service  of  Uncle 
Sam.  We  remained  at  Camp  Carroll  all  the  fall 
and  winter.  Having  drawn  our  horses  we  were 
kept  quite  busy  drilling. 

I  got  into  more  trouble  though,  by  being  so  ac- 
commodating as  to  help  write  some  passes  for  any 
of  the  boys  who  wished  to  go  to  the  city  in  the 
evening. 

My  bunk  mate  was  a  good  penman  and  used  to 
fill  out  passes,  sometimes  ten  or  a  dozen  in  a  day 
and  I  assisted  him  by  writing  the  captain's  name. 
The  guards  had  orders  to  take  up  all  the  passes 
one  night,  and  the  result  was  there  were  a  number 
of  my  company  gave  up  passes  that  were  not  genu- 
ine. About  a  dozen  of  us  were  called  to  Colonel 
Miller's  headquarters.  Among  them  was  the  chief 


[19] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


bugler,  our  company  bugler,  ray  bunk  mate,  De- 
Ware,  myself  and  others. 

I  was  shown  passes  and  asked  if  I  had  anything 
to  do  with  them.  I  denied  ever  seeing  them.  I 
told  the  truth. 

I  had  added  the  name  of  John  Sullivan  to  a  pass 
I  got  for  myself  the  day  before  and  we  both  went  to 
the  city.  As  I  was  ready  to  come  home  first  I  gave 
the  pass  to  Sullivan  and  ran  by  the  guard  at  a  part 
of  the  camp  they  did  not  look  for  any  one.  I  ex- 
pected to  be  confronted  with  this  pass  but  was  not. 

One  of  the  buglers  who  was  only  a  boy  gave  us 
all  away  by  telling  the  colonel  who  he  had  seen 
writing  passes.  The  result  was  our  chief  bugler, 
DeWare  and  myself  were  committed  to  the  guard 
house  until  tried  by  court  marshal  for  writing  pass- 
es and  forging  officers  names. 

After  being  in  the  guard  house  for  about  six 
weeks  we  were  tried.  I  was  convicted  on  a  pass 
I  had  never  seen ;  but  it  was  no  use.  DeWare  and 
the  bugler  were  each  sentenced  to  carry  the  saddle 
and  all  the  horses  accoutrements  for  8  hours  one 
day.  My  sentence  was  to  carry  my  horse's  saddle, 
blanket  and  other  fittings  for  4  hours  a  day  for  six 
days. 

We  all  carried  out  our  sentence  the  first  day. 
After  four  hours  I  was  relieved  but  the  other  two 
were  very  tired  when  their  eight  hours  were  up. 

[20] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


I  never  finished  out  my  sentence  for  which  it  was 
time  for  me  to  get  out  the  saddle,  etc.  in  the  morn- 
ing I  always  hid  until  the  company  went  on  drill 
and  then  there  was  no  one  to  put  the  outfit  on  me. 
My  orderly  sergeant  knew  about  me  not  showing  up 
for  punishment,  but  they  were  not  strict  about  such 
things. 


CHAPTER  SIX. 

Tells  of  the    Men    in    the    Guard  House,  Winter 

Camping  and  Stonewall  Jackson's  Raid. 

While  in  the  guard  house  I  met  some  of  the 
worst  character  in  the  regiment  There  were  some 
who  had  fought  in  the  Mexican  war,  some  who  had 
been  in  the  British  army  and  some  who  had  been 
in  our  regulars  and  fought  the  Indians  on  the 
plains  in  the  far  west. 

I  must  say  I  was  well  used ;  I  think  because  I  was 
a  boy ;  but  most  of  the  prisoners  were  handled  very 
roughly  by  the  regular  stead  ^  prisoners. 

One  of  those  prisoners,  whose  name  was  Mar- 
shal, had  a  ball  and  chain  on  him,  fitted  handcuffs, 
which  were  not  very  close  fitting.  He  thought  if 
he  had  soap  and  rubbed  his  hands  good  with  it 
he  might  be  able  to  pull  them  off ;  and  then  he  would 
try  and  make  his  escape.  I  had  some  soap,  and 
after  a  hard  pull,  slipped  the  handcuffs  off. 

As  it  was  after  dark  he  made  an  excuse  to  get 
out  with  a  guard.  I  also  had  some  business  out 
too.  He  had  on  his  overcoat  and  carried  the  ball 
and  chain.  The  guard  did  not  know  but  what  he 
was  handcuffed  and  when  he  got  to  a  sink  hole,  be- 
ing out  of  the  guard's  sight,  he  threw  the  ball  and 

[22] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


all  in  the  sink.  Then  when  he  came  out  he  ran  to- 
ward the  horse  stable  and  the  guard  fired,  which 
alarmed  the  reserve  guards,  and  after  a  search  he 
was  caught  near  one  of  the  stables.  They  found 
him  lying  on  the  snow  and  brought  him  back  to  the 
guard  house. 

They  then  had  the  shackles  fastened  around  his 
ankles  so  that  he  could  not  get  them  off. 

I  remember  the  officer  saying  he  thought  he  could 
not  get  them  off  his  ankles.  When  everything 
quieted  down,  and  most  of  the  prisoners  got  to 
sleep,  we  found  two  common  case  knives;  one  was 
made  of  steel.  I  hacked  them  together,  making  the 
sharp  edge  like  saws.  Then  we  threw  a  blanket 
over  our  heads  and  lit  a  piece  of  candle,  which 
Marshal  held.  I  commenced  sawing  the  links  of  the 
chain.  I  worked  two  or  three  hours  and  finally 
succeeded  in  sawing  off  the  chains  so  that  he  was 
free  of  the  ball  and  chain. 

Working  under  the  blanket  made  us  sweat  pro- 
fusely. After  finishing  the  job  Marshal  got  up  in 
his  bunk  and  I  went  to  mine;  both  very  tired  and 
sleepy. 

Early  in  the  morning,  the  officer  of  the  guard 
came  in,  lifted  the  blanket  off  Marshal's  feet  to  see 
how  he  was.  He  was  surprised  to  see  there  were 
several  pieces  of  the  chain  and  the  ball,  all  loose, 
and  not  waking  up  the  prisoner,  he  took  a  few 

[23] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


pieces  of  the  chain  and  brought  it  to  the  Colonel, 
who  was  so  pleased  that  he  ordered  Marshal  re-leas- 
ed, saying  he  was  too  smart  a  man  for  the  guard 
house.  He  not  only  released  him  but  appointed 
him  his  orderly  that  day.  At  his  headquarters  I 
felt  as  if  I  should  have  had  more  credit  than  Mar- 
shal, for  I  did  the  work ;  yet  I  dare  not  let  any  one 
know  of  it,  so  I  did  not  show  up  as  a  hero  in  the 
Colonel's  eyes. 

This  same  Marshal  was  a  very  smart  man.  He 
was  detached  from  the  regiment  after  we  went  to 
the  front  and  was  made  a  scout.  The  last  time  I 
saw  him  he  was  dressed  in  gray  to  pass  as  a  con- 
federate soldier. 

Company  A,  the  one  I  belonged  to,  had  a  number 
of  characters  I  shall  never  forget.  Edward  O'Brien 
an  Irishman  who  was  quite  old  to  be  in  service, 
was  a  whole  show  in  himself.  He  claimed  to  have 
been  educated  in  Oxford  College  in  England.  He 
was  one  of  the  greatest  talkers  I  ever  heard.  He 
used  to  recite  Shakespear  by  the  hour,  and  as  he 
had  a  powerful  voice  he  could  be  heard  a  great  dis- 
tance. He  was  also  a  singer  and  sang  the  old  time 
negro  songs,  such  as  "Blue  Tail  Fly,"  "Sinty  Sue," 
etc.  He  sang  with  such  vim  that  he  was  nicknamed 
"Blue  Tail  Fly." 

There  were  few  who  would  care  to  takle  him  in 
an  argument;  and  those  that  did  came  out  second 

[24] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


best.  All  dreaded  his  tongue,  for  after  he  would 
give  a  person  a  dressing  down  they  would  feel 
cheap.  He  was  a  great  favorite  for  all  that.  We 
had  three  Jacksons  in  the  company ;  they  were  dis- 
tinguished by  being  called  "Fancy  Jackson,"  "Pie 
Jackson"  and  "Gassey  Jackson."  We  also  had  a 
Jew  whose  name  was  Reiner.  He  did  considerable 
cooking  while  in  the  camp ;  he  was  a  great  favorite 
with  most  of  the  company ;  but  was  quick  tempered. 
Often  when  handing  out  our  rations  of  meat,  the 
ration  would  look  small  and  some  would  protest 
and  tell  the  cook  they  would  take  their  rations  raw. 
The  cook  one  day  said  to  one  of  the  kickers: 

"You  can  have  your  meat  raw,  you  d hog." 

The  other  fellow  said : 

"You  can  go  to  hell,  you  d Christ  Killer." 

It  was  fun  for  those  around  to  hear  the  compli- 
ments of  this  kind  passed  between  them. 

There  seemed  to  be  men  from  all  parts  of  the 
country.  We  had  one  man  who  had  been  a  courier 
for  Stonewall  Jackson.  He  joined  us  after  being 
captured  from  the  rebels  and  he  was  known  as 
Rebel  Johnson  and  was  one  of  the  bravest  men  in 
the  company. 

We  received  our  horses  in  the  early  fall  of  1861 
and  had  quite  a  time  learning  to  ride.  We  often 
rode  through  the  streets  of  Baltimore  and  felt 
proud  of  our  horse  and  general  appearances.  We 


[25] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 

kept  our  horses  cleaned  up  and  slick  looking.  We 
were  called  one  of  the  best  drilled  regiments  there 
was  among  the  volunteer  cavalry. 

United  States  Senator  Henry  Winter  Davis  of 
Maryland  brought  friends  from  Washington  to  see 
us  drill. 

We  staid  at  Camp  Carroll  all  winter  and  the  last 
of  April,  1862,  we  were  sent  to  Winchester,  Va,  We 
camped  west  of  the  city  on  a  flat,  back  of  a  large 
hill  towards  Cedar  Creek.  After  being  here  for 
about  ten  days  or  so  Stonewall  Jaskson  drove  us 
under  General  Banks  out  of  the  Shenadoah  Valley, 
through  Martinsburg  to  Williamsport,  Md. 

We  had  to  leave  our  camp  at  midnight,  and  not 
having  any  wagons  left  all  our  tents  and  clothes 
behind,  not  knowing  but  what  we  would  be  back 
again ;  but  we  never  saw  our  tents  and  other  things 
again;  although  we  saw  the  camp  grounds  after  a 
few  weeks  when  Banks  command  returned. 

I  had  my  first  sleep  on  horse  back  during  the  re- 
treat. This  was  a  very  common  thing  later,  for  it 
was  often  the  only  chance  for  sleep  we  had  for  days 
at  a  time. 

When  returning  to  the  valley  and  after  riding 
most  of  the  night,  we  arrived  at  the  outskirts  north 
of  Martinsburg,  Va.,  before  morning;  through  the 
night  it  rained  very  hard  and  all  being  tired,  we 
went  to  sleep  sitting  on  our  horses  for  we  were  to 

[26] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


charge  the  town  as  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  to 
see. 

After  a  sleep  I  awoke  and  noticing  a  cap  to  my 
right  and  directly  in  from  of  my  horse,  I  looked 
to  see  who  was  next  to  me.  It  was  EdAvard  O'Brien 
who  was  bare  headed,  and  thinking  it  would  be  a 
nice  trick  to  play  on  him,  so  as  to  hear  him  scold, 
when  he  should  awaken.  I  made  my  horse  paw 
the  cap  in  the  mud  and  water  until  it  did  not  look 
like  a  cap.  I  was  so  pleased  with  the  trick  I  had 
played  on  O'Brien  that  I  awoke  my  tent  mate  Sul- 
livan and  told  him  there  would  be  fun  when  O'Brien 
woke  up  and  found  his  cap  in  the  mud. 

Sullivan  asked  me  where  my  cap  was.  This  was 
the  first  I  knew  I  was  bareheaded,  I  got  the  cap  and 
washed  it  and  found  it  was  my  own  cap.  This  was 
the  first  and  last  trick  I  tried  to  play  on  O'Brien. 

I  asked  Sullivari  to  keep  it  a  secret ;  but  I  think 
it  was  only  the  charge  we  made  a  few  minutes  af- 
ter on  the  town  that  kept  him  from  telling  all  the 
company,  for  the  joke  was  too  good  'to  keep. 

We  camped  on  Faulkner  place  in  the  outskirts 
of  Martinsburg.  Shortly  after  this  we  went  to 
Winchester.  We  lived  on  the  country  for  awhile 
and  often  went  to  the  farms  and  slaughtered  cattle, 
sheep  and  hogs.  One  day  as  one  of  our  men  by 
the  name  of  Schroder  was  chasing  sheep,  our  form- 
er cook,  Keimer,  the  Jew,  directed  him  and  the 

[27] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


other  boys  to  catch  one  with  the  bell  on,  and  in 
his  excitement  he  called  to  Schroder  to  catch  "the 
one  mit  the  clock  on."  Of  course  this  made  the 
boys  laugh  and  they  kept  it  up  on  him  for  some 
time. 


CHAPTER  SEVEN. 

He  is  Picked  Out  for  a  Hazardous  Trip  and  Suc- 
ceeds in  Making  It. 

While  camped  west  of  Winchester,  one  evening 
about  nine  o'clock,  Capt.  Merritt  came  to  me  and 
told  me  he  wanted  me  to  carry  a  dispatch  for  Gen. 
Segil  to  go  to  Harpers  Ferry.  The  Capt.  said  to 
take  any  man  in  the  company  I  wanted  to  go  with 
ma 

I  was  surprised  and  pleased  to  know  my  captain 
had  so  much  confidence  in  me  as  to  pick  me,  a  boy 
of  17,  for  so  important  and  hazardous  a  trip. 

I  was  about  to  ask  for  John  Sullivan.  When  he 
overheard  what  the  Captain  said  he  volunteered  to 
go  with  me.  He  was  a  man  that  was  not  afraid 
of  any  danger. 

We  rode  to  the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Segil  which 
was  on  the  Main  Street  in  Winchester  and  I  re- 
ceived the  dispatch  with  instructions  to  proceed  to 
Smithfield  by  way  of  Bunkerhill,  which  was  not 
far  from  Martinsburg. 

We  took  the  Martinsburg  turnpike  and  felt  some- 
what uneasy  after  getting  out  of  our  lines. 

I  hid  the  dispatch  the  best  I  could,  so  in  casp  of 
capture  it  might  not  be  found. 

[29] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


We  were  very  careful  and  kept  a  sharp  lookout 
for  rebel  scouts  or  guerrillas  and  also  were  quiet  in 
our  talking. 

After  a  ride  of  about  ten  miles  or  so  we  turned 
of  the  main  road  toward  Smithfleld  and  felt  very 
much  relieved  to  get  so  far  without  being  held  up. 

We  arrived  at  Smithfield  without  any  mishap. 
Here  we  found  a  small  squad  of  cavalry  to  whom  I 
turned  over  my  papers,  and  they  started  at  once 
for  Harper's  Ferry. 

Our  instructions  were  to  remain  here  until  the 
other  men  returned  from  Harper's  Ferry  and  get 
a  return  paper  to  bring  back  to  Gen.  Segil  at  Win- 
chester. 

Smithfleld  was  17  miles  from  Winchester,  the 
way  we  came,  and  Harper's  Ferry  was  15  miles 
more. 

Towards  evening  the  dispatch  carriers  returned. 
Getting  the  papers  from  them  we  started  for  Win- 
chester, by  another  road  as  per  orders  received. 
We  had  not  gone  a  fourth  of  mile  when  my  comrade 
Sullivan  became  so  sick  that  he  turnej  his  horse 
into  a  yard  and  I  had  to  return  alone. 

On  my  way  I  reported  at  a  camp  of  Union  soldiers 
who  were  camped  on  the  railroad.  The  officer  in 
command  told  me  which  road  to  take  to  reach  Win- 
chester pike.  It  proved  to  be  a  very  rough  road. 
In  the  dark  I  thought  I  should  never  reach  the 

[30] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


main  road.  I  felt  very  much  the  importance  of 
my  mission  and  when  I  reached  the  main  road  I 
gave  full  speed  to  my  horse  the  last  three  or  four 
miles  and  arrived  at  Segil's  headquarters  all  safe. 

I  felt  very  proud  of  my  trip  and  often  thought 
why  should  the  captain  pick  out  a  boy  in  preference 
to  a  man  for  such  an  important  mission.  I  after- 
ward learned  the  reason  for  doing  so. 

While  waiting  at  Smithfield  my  comrade  Sullivan 
in  going  around  found  a  distillery  and  drank  free- 
ly of  the  liquor.  This  was  the  cause  of  his  sick- 
ness on  our  return  trip. 

A  man  would  be  likely  to  drink  where  a  boy 
would  not.  This  is  the  conclusion  I  came  to  and 
after  all  I  made  up  my  mind  the  captain  knew  what 
he  was  doing  when  he  picked  me  out  for  the  trip. 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


We  lived  on  the  country  considerably,  not  being 
near  any  supplies.  On  one  occasion  one  of  our 
men  caught  an  old  goose  and  after  boiling  it  for  a 
day  found  it  so  tough  we  could  not  eat  it.  We 
biled  it  a  part  of  the  next  day,  with  no  better  suc- 
cess. 

Wliile  at  Little  Washington  cross  roads  it  rain- 
ed so  it  was  impossible  for  any  one  to  lay  on  the 
ground.  My  comrade  who  had  been  a  sailor  and  I 
laid  on  a  square  timber  that  was  about  a  foot  or  so 
from  the  ground.  Sometime  during  the  night  he 
awoke  me,  saying  in  his  sailor  way:  "Get  up  or 
we  will  soon  be  adrift." 

Very  often  at  night  when  he  heard  the  horses 
around  he  would  awake  me  up  and  say  somebody's 
horse  was  adrift. 

We  camped  at  Little  Washington  for  sometime 
and  often  made  trips  through  the  gap  to  F<_vont 
Royal  and  back  without  any  trouble.  I  made  the 
trip  once  all  alone,  although  I  came  near  being  shot 
by  my  own  carbine.  The  ball  just  grazed  the  toe 
of  my  boot. 

One  one  of  those  trips  through  the  gap,  there  were 
about  20  men  of  my  company  sent  to  Front  Royal 
and  on  their  return  the  seven  men  in  advance  were 
captured  by  the  rebels  who  brought  them  up  a  path 
over  the  mountains. 

The  next  trip  of  this  kind  we  were  not  caught 

[33] 


Tales  of  Wai-  Times. 


napping.  Sergeant  Wilson  had  charge  of  the  ad- 
vance and  after  we  passed  the  place  where  we 
thought  the  others  had  been  captured,  Wilson  and 
1  turned  our  horses  to  the  left  into  the  woods  on 
high  ground  where  we  could  see  a  house  in  the 
ravines.  We  suspected  it  was  the  headquarters  of 
the  guerrillas.  After  our  wagons  and  escort  went 
by  we  could  see  nine  or  ten  men  come  oat  of  the 
house,  cross  the  road  and  go  up  a  mountain  path. 
They  were  afraid  to  tackle  our  squad,  which  was 
pood  policy  under  the  circumstances,  for  we  were 
fully  prepared  for  any  emergency  that  might  hap- 
pen. We  camped  for  several  weeks  near  Little. 
Washington. 

Our  company  was  assigned  to  Gen.  Anger's  head- 
quarters. In  the  evening  Ed.  O'Brien  would  en- 
tertain us  by  quoting  Shakespeare  and  singing  Paul 
Pry  and  negro  songs.  He  would  keep  it  up  two 
hours  or  more  at  a  time,  and  having  such  a  power- 
ful voice  it  attracted  hundreds  from  other  com- 
mands. Often  I  have  seen  Gen.  Auger's  staff  offi- 
cers come  down  to  hear  him. 

Sergeant  Saunders  Morrison  and  I  were  sent  to 
Gen.  Geary's  headquarters  as  orderlies  to  carry  dis- 
patches. We  left  camp  and  marched  to  Culppeper 
court  house.  The  next  day  the  battle  of  Cedar  or 
Slaughter  Mountain  was  fought.  Gen.  Banks  was 
our  commanding  general.  Just  as  the  battle  com- 

[34] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


menced  I  was  ordered  by  the  adjutant  general  to  go 
and  order  Gen.  Patrick  to  move  his  brigade  over 
near  the  Stone  house  where  I  left  Gen.  Geary.  I 
did  as  I  was  ordered  and  as  Patrick's  command  got 
up  to  move  I  noticed  some  of  the  men  did  not  stir, 
which  showed  the  shells  that  fell  among  them  kill- 
ed and  disabled  a  number  of  them  while  lying  on 
the  ground. 

I  spurred  my  horse  back  to  report  to  Gen.  Geary 
that  I  did  as  ordered  for  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  re- 
port. 

All  was  confusion  and  bustle  and  I  failed  to  find 
the  general.  I  met  two  of  the  orderlies  who  said 
the  general  told  them  to  go  to  the  rear  for  he  did 
not  wish  to  be  distinguished  by  having  so  many 
mounted  men  with  him.  They  advised  me  to  come 
with  them  and  find  our  company,  but  I  felt  I  was 
in  duty  bound  to  report  to  the  general ;  and  where- 
ever  I  saw  any  mounted  men  I  followed  in  hopes 
of  seeing  him  or  the  adjutant  general,  but  failed 
to  find  them.  I  followed  one  squad  I  thought  there 
was  a  general  with  and  as  they  rushed  in  between 
the  Union  and  Rebel  lines  I  saw  it  was  a  very  criti- 
cal position,  for  both  armies  were  charging  toward 
one  another. 

I  wheeled  my  horse  about  and  rode  as  fast  as  I 
could  to  get  from  between  bdth  lines  and  hardly 
was  out  when  they  met  in  a  charge.  The  result 

[35] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


was  that  Gen.  Gordon  and  his  staff  were  captured 
by  the  rebels.  Gen.  Gordon  was  a  Massachusetts 
man.  I  saw  I  was  no  use  alone  and  as  this  was  the 
first  large  engagement  I  had  been  in  I  concluded  I 
would  go  to  the  rear  and  find  my  company  if  I  could 
reach  them  alive. 

It  seemed  a  perfect  rain  of  shot  and  shell  for 
the  enemy  had  their  guns  in  a  good  position  on 
Cedar  Mountain. 

After  I  reached  the  run  near  the  rear  I  saw  Gen. 
Banks  and  staff  and  I  never  can  forget  how  cool 
the  general  was.  He  showed  no  excitement. 

About  the  time  I  came  a  shell  killed  a  man  a  few 
feet  from  the  general  and  he  fell  from  his  horse. 
I  noticed  the  general  sitting  on  his  horse  writing  a 
dispatch,  apparently  as  cool  as  if  in  camp. 

What  I  saw  of  this  battle  made  a  great  impres- 
sion on  my  mind  of  what  a  terrible  thing  war  really 
was. 

There  were  men  laying  around  killed  and  dis- 
abled ;  men  skulking  to  the  rear  as  fast  as  they  could 
get  away ;  others  rushing  toward  the  front.  It  was 
a  sight  to  see  so  many  horses  running  around  with- 
out riders.  I  remember  it  was  so  warm  that  men 
were  sun  struck,  even  on  the  march  toward  the  bat- 
tle field. 

I  found  my  company  some  ways  back  and  learned 
that  Gen.  Geary  had  been  wounded  in  the  first  part 

[36J 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


of  the  battle.  This  was  the  reason  I  could  not  find 
him  to  report. 

That  night  we  fell  back  some  and  after  dark  the 
enemy's  guns  opened  fire  on  our  lines.  The  result 
was  the  teamsters  and  others  mounted  horses  and 
mules  and  rode  over  the  tired  and  exhausted  men 
for  the  rear.  It  was  a  regular  panic  but  fortunate- 
ly Gen.  Segil  was  coming  from  Culpepper  Court 
House  with  his  command  and  meeting  the  soldiers 
and  others  moving  back,  halted  them  and  inquired 
why  there  was  such  a  rush  back. 

Lieut.  Dorsey  of  our  company  called  out  to  the 
general  that  the  colored  teamsters  caused  the 
panic  by  trying  to  get  to  the  rear. 

The  general  did  some  swearing  and  ordered  one 
of  his  officers  to  stop  the  panic  by  placing  a  regi- 
ment or  two  across  the  road  and  on  each  side  of  it. 

All  lay  down  there  until  morning.  There  were 
great  losses  of  men  on  both  sides. 

My  company  went  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  bat- 
tlefield and  helped  to  bury  the  dead. 

I  tried  to  find  Gen.  Geary.  Meeting  the  adjutant 
general  he  informed  me  that  the  general  had  gone 
to  his  home  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.  and  had  I  been 
there  at  the  time  I  could  have  gone  with  his  as  or- 
derly for  he  knew  my  home  was  there. 


[87] 


CHAPTER  NINE. 
Tom  Disobeys  Orders  and  is  Called  a  Hero  ~by  His 

Comrades— Thought  He  Was  Captured. 

Shortly  after  this  we  commenced  to  fall  back  to- 
wards Washington.  This  was  known  as  Pope's  re- 
treat. 

We  fared  very  poorly  for  food  on  this  campaign, 
for  green  corn  was  our  food  most  of  the  time.  We 
fought  up  and  down  the  Eappahannock  river  for  a 
week  or  more  and  it  was  a  continual  fight,  terminat- 
ing with  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run. 

I  was  very  much  disabled  by  an  injury  received 
some  months  before.  It  was  a  fracture  of  my  left 
shin  bone  and  the  pain  was  severe.  Often  my 
comrades  had  to  help  me  on  and  off  my  horse.  Still 
I  kept  with  the  boys  and  was  one  of  the  first  to 
reach  Mannasas  Junction,  after  the  rebels  destroy- 
ed all  the  engines,  cars  and  stores.  They  were  still 
burning  when  we  reached  there,  the  advance 
skirmishes  of  our  army. 

In  the  afternoon  of  this  day  my  horse  became 
lame  and  my  leg  ached  so  badly  that  I  would  have 
had  it  amputated  if  I  could  have  found  a  surgeon. 

I  gave  up  trying  to  keep  up  with  the  boys  and 

[38] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


towards  evening  I  went  into  a  field  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  road  and  lay  down. 

In  a  short  time  our  cavalry  were  driven  in  and 
chased  by  the  rebel  cavalry. 

I  felt  so  badly  that  I  lav  where  I  was,  expecting 
to  be  shot.  They  had  hardly  gone  by,  when  the 
Union  cavalry  seemed  to  get  reinforcements  and 
drove  the  rebels  back  again.  This  gave  me  some 
courage  and  I  limped  over  to  a  hay  stack  nearby 
and  got  all  the  hay  I  could  carry  in  a  surcingle.  I 
placed  it  in  the  cover  of  a  zig-zag  fence  and  laid  on 
it  for  the  night. 

I  slept  well  and  awoke  next  morning  feeling 
much  better.  My  horse  had  gotten  over  his  lame- 
ness and  had  eaten  about  all  the  hay  from  under 
me.  I  started  to  find  my  regiment,  which  I  found 
during  the  battle  of  Bull  Kun. 

We  were  sent  to  try  and  stop  men  from  going 
back  from  the  battlefield.  I  remember  the  last  day 
of  the  battle  we  stretched  across  the  rear  of  the  in- 
fantry who  were  fighting  and  were  ordered  to  let 
none  but  wounded  men  go  to  the  rear,  or  men  help- 
ing the  wounded  off  the  field. 

We  were  in  a  patch  of  woods  and  stopped  all  we 
thought  not  entitled  to  go.  Some  of  the  men  were 
completely  discouraged.  I  remember  one  man  I 
stopped.  He  looked  like  a  man  that  realized  his 
time  had  come.  Not  being  wounded  I  told  him  to 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


stop.  He  sat  down  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  and  owing 
to  our  side  getting  the  worst  of  the  battle  we  were 
ordered  to  let  all  through  later.  I  called  the  men. 
I  stopped,  but  he  did  not  move. 

I  rode  up  closer  and  saw  that  he  had  been  shot 
dead  and  was  still  sitting  up  with  his  back  against 
the  tree. 

Our  army  fell  back  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Wash- 
ington. The  rebel  army  was  up  at  the  Potomac 
river  and  making  for  Maryland,  after  defeating 
Gen.  Pope  at  Bull  Run. 

Our  company  was  sent  out  on  a  scout  with  two 
professional  scouts  dressed  as  rebels.  We  went  in 
the  night  up  towrard  Leesburg  to  locate  Lee's  army. 
About  day  break  the  scouts  came  back  to  let  our 
officer  know  the  rebel  army  was  just  over  the  hill. 

Again  I  was  selected  as  a  lookout  to  go  to  the 
top  of  the  hill  and  watch  the  rebel  army,  while  the 
scouts  and  company  returned  to  report  to  the  com- 
manding general  what  they  found. 

My  officer  told  me  to  keep  a  close  watch  on  the 
rebels  and  not  let  them  see  me  and  after  the  com- 
pany got  back  some  ways  they  would  signal  me  to 
follow.  I  kept  watch  of  the  rebels  in  the  valley 
and  my  own  company,  but  no  signal  was  given  and 
soon  they  were  out  of  sight.  I  began  to  realize  that 
I  was  of  but  little  account,  and  that  my  officer  was 
willing  to  sacrifice  me  in  order  that  they  would  get 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


back.  I  staid  watching  the  rebels  for  about  an 
hour  and  as  the  day  was  getting  bright  and  I 
thought  my  company  must  be  several  miles  away 
towards  our  lines  I  decided  to  vacate  my  post  and 
follow  before  being  captured  by  the  enemy. 

I  was  very  cautious  for  a  half  mile  or  so,  but  af- 
ter that  I  felt  I  was  quite  safe  and  seeing  some 
peach  trees  I  helped  myself  to  the  peaches  and  re- 
turned to  camp  twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  at  my 
leisure.  All  thought  I  was  captured  and  were  sur- 
prised to  see  me  get  back  all  right. 

I  felt  like  a  hero  for  I  saw  the  rebel  army  cook- 
ing their  breakfast  and  none  of  the  others  except 
the  scouts  saw  the  rebels  in  camp. 

I  was  often  selected  for  such  jobs  for  I  was  quite 
lucky  about  them. 


CHAPTER  TEN. 

Several  Adventures  and  Some  Pretty  Tough  Times 
— A  Thirsty  Mule  Goes  After  a  Drink. 

We  were  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington  on  the 
Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac  river  for  sometime 
and  went  to  Fairfax  Court  House,  Centerville  and 
Fairfax  Station.  While  at  Centerville  we  often 
went  over  to  the  Bull  Eun  Battlefield  with  people 
from  Washington  as  escorts;  both  men  and  women 
visited  the  field.  We  enjoyed  those  trips;  but  of- 
ten looked  for  rebel  cavalry  to  attack  us.  We 
camped  most  of  the  fall  and  winter  of  1862  and  '63 
on  Hall's  farm,  about  three  miles  from  Washing- 
ton, in  Virginia.  In  February  we  broke  camp  and 
went  to  Bell  Plains  near  Fredericksburg,  Va, ;  ar- 
rived there  February  21st  and  camped  in  a  small 
grove.  Next  morning  (Washington's  birthday) 
we  woke  up  to  find  about  two  feet  of  snow  covering 
us. 

This  was  unusual  for  this  country;  the  next 
winter  I  have  no  recollection  of  seeing  any  snow, 
although  the  weather  was  very  cold. 

We  camped  at  Bell  Plains  the  rest  of  the  winter. 
We  made  an  occasional  raid  down  the  lower  Poto- 
mac. On  one  occasion  we  destroyed  a  salt  works.  We 

[[42] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


also  patroled  on  the  banks  of  the  Rappahannock 
river,  below  the  Fredricksburg.  The  rebels  were 
on  one  side  and  our  forces  on  the  other.  We  could 
talk  across,  but  by  a  mutual  understanding,  the 
pickets  were  not  firing  on  one  another. 

Our  position  was  such,  riding  up  and  down  the 
river,  that  we  were  very  much  exposed,  should  they 
shoot ;  and  I  must  admit  I  felt  very  uneasy  the  first 
time  I  rode  my  beat,  expecting  to  be  shot  every 
minute.  I  was  glad  when  I  was  relieved  shortly 
after  daybreak. 

There  were  hundreds  of  young  wild  ducks  in  the 
river  between  the  lines,  but  we  dare  not  fire  for 
fear  of  starting  a  general  firing  along  the  lines. 

In  the  early  spring  when  the  roads  were  muddy 
and  hard  to  travel,  we  started  on  what  is  known 
as  the  Stonemen  Cavalry  Raid  around  Richmond. 
Before  starting  on  this  we  were  around  Bealinton 
Station  for  a  few  days. 

While  here  a  heavy  rain  with  snow  fell  and  the 
ground  was  so  slushy  the  mud  was  about  a  foot  or 
more  deep  and  it  was  terribly  cold. 

We  learned  that  Mosby  had  captured  some  of  our 
wagon  train  and  were  ordered  in  the  night  to  go 
and  protect  our  wagons. 

After  a  short  ride  we  came  to  a  body  of  water 
that  looked  like  a  large  river  or  lake.  After  forty 
or  fifty  undertook  to  cross,  we  were  ordered  to  go 

[43] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


back  to  camp,  for  the  officers  thought  a  lot  of  men 
would  get  drowned  in  the  attempt  to  cross.  The 
men  would  ride  into  the  water,  and  when  near  the 
other  side,  horse  and  rider  would  get  into  a  deep 
hole;  the  result  was  a  number  of  men  were  carried 
down  stream,  calling  for  help  to  save  them ;  but  in 
the  dark  no  one  could  see  them. 

I  never  found  how  many  men  were  drowned,  but 
learned  there  were  a  dozen  or  more  horses  lost. 

Just  before  leaving  camp  there  was  a  man  shot 
accidently.  He  was  a  little  Englishman  by  the 
name  of  Abe  Lincoln. 

After  getting  back  to  the  woods  we  had  been  in 
we  found  the  mud  much  deeper  than  when  we  left. 
We  built  such  fires  as  we  could  and  tried  our  best 
to  roost  on  the  fallen  trees;  but  many  men,  being 
so  tired  and  sleepy,  would  tumble  off  their  roost 
and  drop  into  the  mud.  Some  were  so  overcome 
that  they  did  not  appear  to  wake  up. 

I  was  very  sleepy  and  I  proposed  to  my  comrade 
Sullivan  that  we  put  a  gum  poucher  on  the  mud 
and  lay  on  it  and  cover  up  with  another.  We  tried 
it.  It  was  like  laying  in  the  mud  with  snow  mix- 
ed in  it ;  it  was  so  cold. 

I  went  to  sleep  but  my  comrade  could  not  stand 
the  cold,  and  had  to  get  up.  After  a  short  sleep 
I  also  was  compelled  to  get  up,  being  chilled 
through. 

[44J 


Actventufes  of  Tom  Minds. 


The  mud  was  so  soft  that  half  the  body  would 
sink  in  it.  This  was  a  good  foundation  for  the 
rheumatism  which  troubled  me  in  after  years. 

We  all  spent  a  miserable  night. 

The  next  morning  we  started  to  find  the  rebels 
that  captured  our  wagons  and  I  had  a  narrow  es- 
cape from  being  shot  and  captured. 

Some  of  us  was  on  the  left  flank  of  our  company 
and  seeing  some  horsemen  to  the  left,  gave  them 
chase.  After  a  mile  or  so  we  found  we  chased  the 
rebels  too  far. 

They  drew  us  into  a  trap. 

Sargeant  Hays,  who  was  ahead  of  me,  first  dis- 
covered our  fix  and  stopped.  I  also  stopped  at  the 
same  time.  Just  then  Sergeant  Copes  came  up  and 
shouted  to  me. 

I  looked  to  the  left  and  behind  a  clump  of  bushes 
and  saw  a  man  aiming  at  me. 

I  threw  my  head  and  body  forward  and  thrust  my 
spurs  into  my  horse,  .which  gave  a  jump  forward 
just  as  the  man  fired,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  my 
move  may  have  saved  me  from  being  shot. 

We  noticed  a  squad  of  cavalry  galloping  to  cut 
us  off;  and  there  were  also  a  number  of  men  on 
foot  behind  bushes.  We  three  put  spurs  to  our 
horses  and  made  the  best  time  possible  to  regain 
our  company.  Had  we  been  compelled  to  stay  in 
the  road  the  rebel  cavalry  would  have  headed  us 
off;  but  we  went  through  a  corn  field  to  our  left 

[45] 


Talcs  of  War  Times. 


and  then  discovered  some  of  our  own  company  com- 
ing to  our  aid.  The  remainder  of  the  company 
and  officers  were  on  a  high  piece  of  ground,  looking 
at  our  race.  The  presence  of  our  men  coming 
through  the  field  saved  us. 

Going  through  the  field  the  horse  ahead  threw 
great  plasters  of  mud  at  the  hind  rider ;  some  of  us 
were  covered  with  soft  red  clay. 

We  were  pleased  to  get  out  of  that  scrap. 

That  evening  I  was  put  on  one  of  the  out  posts 
and  we  were  ordered  back  to  camp  to  take  part  in 
Stonemen's  Raid. 

One  of  our  men  had  a  sick  horse  and  Rebel  John- 
son and  I  were  ordered  to  stay  with  him  until  he 
should  find  a  horse.  The  result  was,  we  did  not 
find  a  horse  until  the  next  afternoon  and  when  we 
went  back  to  camp  found  all  had  gone.  We  follow- 
ed in  the  trail  and  overtook  the  wagon  and  mule 
train  near  the  Rapidan  river. 

We  were  advised  not  to  undertake  to  follow  the 
command,  for  they  were  at  least  two  days  ahead  of 
us ;  so  we  staid  with  the  wagon  and  mule  train,  for 
they  had  our  rations  and  that  is  important  to  a 
soldier. 

When  we  reached  the  Rapidan  river  all  mounted 
men  were  ordered  to  ford  the  river.  The  wagons 
and  mules  were  to  cross  on  a  floating  bridge.  Our 
own  company's  pack  mules  were  among  them  and 
we  arranged  with  the  cook,  who  had  charge  of 

[46] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


them,  that  we  would  stop  on  a  hill  across  the  river 
and  have  a  fire  ready  to  cook  our  supper  when  he 
arrived. 

In  order  that  there  would  be  no  trouble  with  the 
mules,  all  were  brought  down  to  the  river  to  water 
before  crossing  the  floating  bridge. 

The  cook  told  us  after,  all  the  mules  but  the 
largest  one  drank  water  and  when  in  the  middle  of 
the  bridge,  this  mule  would  have  a  drink.  She  was 
in  the  center  of  the  string  of  mules  and  in  trying 
to  drink  broke  the  halters  and  fell  into  the  river 
and  went  under  the  bridge  against  an  abutment. 
This  mule  had  all  the  coffee,  pork,  hardtack  and 
other  eatables  packed  on  her  back  and  we  were  a 
badly  disappointed  lot  when  the  other  mules  and 
cook  arrived,  for  we  were  very  hungry. 

The  three  of  us  went  to  a  plantation  house  where 
we  had  a  fine  supper,  a  good  bed  and  breakfast.  The 
owner  was  quite  an  old  man  but  used  us  well.  I 
suppose  it  was  policy  on  his  part  to  do  so. 

After  leaving  here  we  came  through  the  wilder- 
ness and  passed  Gen.  Hooker's  headquarters  at 
Chancellorsville,  where  the  battle  of  the  next  two 
days  was  fought  and  lost. 

Not  having  our  company  to  go  to,  we  staid  with 
the  wagon  train,  crossed  the  Kappahannock  at 
United  States  ford. 

We  camped  on  an  elevated  plateau  and  could  hear 
the  battle  each  day  and  see  the  smoke,  for  we  were 

[47] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


quite  near  the  river.  The  last  day  of  the  battle, 
before  daybreak,  a  rebel  battery  opened  fire  on  our 
camp,  while  all  were  asleep.  The  first  shot  fired 
hit  the  next  tent  to  where  I  was,  and  knocked  the 
top  off  the  head  of  a  German  of  my  regiment,  and 
also  injured  his  comrade  so  badly  that  he  became 
insane  and  could  not  see. 

We  all  hustled  for  a  place  of  safety  and  some  of 
us  ran  toward  the  river,  so  as  to  escape  the  shells, 
but  they  seemed  to  be  dropping  everywhere.  After 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  the  battery  ceased  to 
fire,  and  we  ventured  back  to  camp  where  our 
clothes,  shoes,  etc.,  were. 

I  found  I  had  a  big  toe  broken  in  the  scrape, 
which  made  me  lame  for  sometime.  The  whole  camp 
started  to  move  away;  and  as  the  comrades  of  the 
dead  man  went  away,  leaving  him  where  he  was 
killed,  Joe  Brown  and  I  dug  a  shallow  grave  near- 
by, put  him  in  his  blanket,  and  picked  up  the  parts 
of  his  head  that  were  scattered.  We  buried  him 
there,  although  we  expected  more  shells  before  we 
got  through. 

We  learned  latter  that  the  battery  was  captured 
by  our  soldiers,  who  had  surrounded  them  the  night 
before.  Had  they  not  been  captured  as  soon  as 
they  were  they  might  have  destroyed  half  the 
wagon  train;  as  it  was  there  was  a  great  panic 
among  the  men,  horses,  and  mules.  There  were 
surgeons,  quartermasters,  teamsters,  cooks  and 

[48] 


Capture  of  Fort  Fisher. 


See  Appendix. 


Battle  of  Lookout   Mountain. 


See  Appendix. 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


others  not  supposed  to  do  much  if  any  fighting,  all 
got  out  of  their  tents  as  they  were,  without  clothes 
or  arms,  the  attack  was  so  sudden.  I  can  never 
forget  the  Union  army  returning  back  to  camp. 
The  reghnents  seemed  reduced  to  companies  in 
looks,  there  were  so  many  men  killed,  wounded  and 
missing.  It  was  a  sad  sight  and  all  seemed  to  feel 
sad. 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN. 

Tom  Encounters  Mosby  and   His  Men   and    Gets 
Awfully  Scared  at  Virginia  Snakes. 

After  this  we  were  from  place  to  place  doing  a 
lot  of  travelling  and  having  plenty  of  duty  to  do. 

We  took  part  in  the  cavalry  fight  near  Culppeper 
Court  House  and  followed  the  rebels  as  far  as  the 
old  battle  field  of  Cedar  Mountain. 

Being  tired  and  sleepy  that  night  I  lay  in  a  hole 
in  the  field,  where  my  head  had  a  good  elevation. 
It  was  warm,  and  through  the  night  it  rained  so 
hard  that  most  of  my  body  was  covered  with  water 
when  I  woke  up  in  the  morning.  I  never  slept  bet- 
ter and  did  not  know  it  had  rained. 

We  followed  the  rebels  to  near  the  Rapidan  river, 
and  had  some  skirmishing  there.  About  twenty  of 
my  company  were  sent  out  on  foot  as  a  skirmish 
line  and  advanced  across  an  open  field,  perhaps 
eight  or  nine  hundred  yards  from  our  reserve  in 
the  woods.  We  had  hardly  reached  a  fence  in  front 
of  us  when  we  noticed  a  lot  of  rebel  cavalry  charg- 
ing toward  us.  We  had  no  time  to  get  back  to  our 
reserve,  being  on  foot,  and  we  could  see  no  way  but 
get  killed  or  captured  for  our  reserve  made  no  pro- 
vision to  support  us. 

[50] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


I  being  to  the  extreme  left  of  our  men,  made  to- 
ward the  sunken  road  to  the  left  and  got  away  as 
far  as  I  could,  by  the  time  the  cavalry  reached  us. 

They  came  with  such  force  that  they  galloped  by 
our  men  and  captured  most  of  them  and  but  for 
some  Union  cavalry  to  our  right  that  saw  the  fix  we 
were  in  all  would  have  been  taken.  They  charged 
at  the  rebel  cavalry  which  caused  them  to  fall  back, 
bringing  nine  or  ten  of  our  men  as  prisoners. 

I  was  followed  by  a  man  on  a  gray  horse  and  was 
sure  of  being  shot  or  captured.  When  within  fifty 
feet  or  so  of  me  he  noticed  the  situation,  looking 
back,  saw  that  his  men  had  fallen  back. 

I  fired  my  revolver  at  him. 

Just  as  I  thought  I  was  to  be  shot  or  captured, 
I  saw  him  stop  and,  turning  around,  started  for  his 
lines,  when  he  was  cut  off  and  captured  by  our 
cavalry,  who  made  the  charge  from  the  right  flank. 

I  heard  next  day  he  was  the  Major  of  the  6th 
Virginia  cavalry  and  was  the  only  man  captured 
from  the  rebels  in  this  action.  He  followed  me  too 
far  or  he  might  have  escaped. 

We  reached  our  company  in  the  woods  and  I  was 
hardly  there  when  I  was  sent  as  the  outpost  near 
the  sunken  road.  I  was  told  to  go  as  far  as  I 
could.  They  were  tree  stumps  and  long  grass,  and 
after  a  careful  survey  of  the  place,  I  managed  to 
get  behind  a  stump  in  the  grass  about  twenty  or 


[51] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


twenty-five  feet  from  a  rebel  picket,  behind  another 
stump. 

Darkness  soon  came  on  and  I  looked  for  a  relief 
guard  but  none  was  sent  to  relieve  me.  I  presume 
they  did  not  know  where  to  find  me.  Being  over- 
come with  sleep  I  slept  on  my  post  until  daybreak 
and  on  looking  around  found  the  rebels  had  with- 
drawn during  the  night. 

I  came  back  to  camp  but  did  not  tell  them  that 
I  slept  on  my  post. 

I  of  course  scolded  some  for  not  being  relieved 
through  the  night,  as  is  the  custom  in  such  cases ; 
but  there  is  little  use  in  a  soldier  kicking,  for  he 
never  gets  any  redress. 

As  I  had  a  good  sleep  I  had  but  little  grounds  to 
kick;  only  my  sleeping  place  was  not  a  very  safe 
one.  This  was  a  very  bothersome  kind  of  a  job, 
for  after  chasing  a  squad  of  them  we  would  often 
see  some  of  them  behind  us  or  all  around  us.  They 
always  had  fine  horses  and  we  hardly  ever  caught 
them,  except  to  catch  them  at  a  house. 

On  one  of  those  trips  three  of  our  company  and 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mosby  face  to  face 
not  more  than  20  or  30  feet  away. 

We  had  made  a  trip  from  Plum  Run,  about  ten 
miles  toward  the  mountains.  Rebel  Johnson  was 
put  to  the  right  and  I  to  the  left  side  of  the  road 
on  this,  so  our  company  would  not  be  surprised. 
I  came  near  being  lost  from  my  company,  for  the 

[52] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


road  turned  sharply  to  the  right  and  not  knowing 
it,  I  kept  straight  on ;  and  looking  where  I  thought 
the  road  was,  failed  to  see  iny  company.  I  noticed 
fresh  tracks  through  the  woods  and  fields  and  I  was 
sure  of  meeting  some  rebel  cavalry,  but  did  not. 

Eeaching  a  road  I  decided  to  try  and  find  my 
company ;  after  a  ride  of  arnile  or  so  I  found  them. 

They  thought  I  had  been  captured. 

On  our  return  no  men  were  put  on  the  flanks ;  but 
Sergeants  Wilson,  Copes,  Dewyer  and  I  were  sent 
as  an  advance  guard.  We  came  to  the  conclusion 
there  were  no  rebels  to  meet;  and  went  about  two 
miles  from  our  camp;  we  met  four  rebel  cavalry 
men,  just  at  the  turn  of  the  road.  Both  parties  were 
surprised  and  we  looked  at  each  other  for  some 
seconds.  We  were  armed  with  new  carbines  and 
were  first  to  recover.  We  fired  our  carbines  and 
strange  to  say,  not  one  of  them  went  off.  This  was 
our  first  experience  with  them.  Then  we  pulled 
out  our  Colt  revolvers  and  before  we  could  fire  they 
had  turned  and  fled. 

Two  shots  from  revolvers  were  fired  by  Copes 
and  Dewyer. 

I  was  on  the  right  of  our  men  and  when  my  car- 
bine missed  fire  the  man  opposite  me  drew  his  re- 
volver, which  I  remember  was  bright,  and  I  thought 
1  would  be  shot,  so  dropped  my  head  behind  my 
horse's  neck  for  protection;  but  he  did  not  take 


[53] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


time  to  fire,  for  the  other  three  men  had  already 
turned  and  got  away,  so  he  turned  and  fled,  too. 

We  dashed  after  them,  but  in  a  few  minutes  they 
vrere  out  of  sight,  as  they  must  have  gone  through 
the  woods.  The  man  we  took  for  Mosby  rode  a  gray 
horse,  had  no  beard.  I  described  the  man  the  next 
day  to  a  young  lady  at  Gainesville  and  she  was  sure 
it  was  him,  for  she  saw  him  that  day  and  he  rode 
a  gray  horse.  We  had  a  number  of  such  meetings 
and  chasing  of  Mosby's  while  in  that  section  and 
only  captured  a  few  at  a  time. 

Shrotly  before  Meade  fell  back  from  Culppeper 
we  made  a  number  of  trips,  some  of  which  we  had 
narrow  escapes. 

A  few  days  before  I  was  taken  a  prisoner  of  war 
we  were  camped  outside  of  Washington,  Va,  We 
came  by  Manasses  or  Washington  Junction  and  1 
noticed  the  railroad  was  torn  up.  It  could  not  be 
used.  A  day  or  two  after  this,  I  was  put  on  guard 
duty  in  front  of  the  colonel's  headquarters.  After 
being  relieved  by  a  new  guard,  the  night  being  very 
warm  and  sultry,  as  well  as  dark,  I  spread  my  oil 
cloth  blanket  (or  poucher  as  we  called  it),  a  few 
yards  back  of  the  headquarters'  tent.  After  being 
asleep  for  some  time  I  was  awakened  by  a  noise 
like  a  train  of  cars  on  a  railroad.  I  remembered 
the  railroad  was  torn  up  and  no  cars  could  run  on 
it.  This  made  me  curious  to  know  what  the  noise 
was  and  on  opening  my  eyes  I  discovered  the  tail 


[54] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 

" 


end  of  a  snake  crawling  a  few  inches  from  my  face 
2  another  snake  following  a  few  inches  behind 

th  I  *S  "Ta*  tot  as  I  could,  drew  my  saber  out 
and 'cut  the  ground  all  around  near  by  tat  did  not 
succeed  in  killing  or  cutting  any  of  the  snakes. 

The  side  of  the  poucher  I  lay  on  was  white  an 
foot,  or  so  of  it  was  not  used  by  me.     I  lay  on  my 
left  side  and  the  snakes,  being  dark  and  so  near 
my  face,  I  could  see  them  plainly.     There  may  have 
been  a  number  crossed  the  corner  of  the  blanket  be- 
fore I  discovered  them,  for  I  heard  the  noise  quit 
a  while  before  opening    my  eyes.     Crawling  over 
the  blanket  made  the  noise  I  took  for  the  cars 
was  frightened  at  my    discovery    and  did  not  at- 
tempt to  go  to  sleep  in  that  vicinity  but  went  up 
into  the  woods  where  my  company  was. 


CHAPTER  TWELVE. 

Tom  is  Taken   Prisoner   and   Tells   Pathetic  and 

Humorous  Incidents  on  Reaching  IMby  Prison. 

I  was  taken  prisoner  of  war  near  Sulphur 
Springs,  Va.,  Oct.  13,  1863. 

About  400  others  were  captured  the  evening  be- 
fore. 

I  might  have  been  but  for  an  accident  which  hap- 
pened to  me  while  on  the  skirmish  line. 

We  were  sent  out  in  front  to  the  left  of  the  road 
facing  Sulphur  Springs  and  the  rebels  were  driving 
our  cavalry  back. 

It  was  about  dusk,  and  as  we  fell  back  we  found 
that  our  own  men  or  the  rebels  were  firing  from  our 
rear  and  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  range  of  fire 
from  both  sides,  a  comrade,  John  Ashley  from  Balti- 
more, and  I  went  to  the  left  to  get  under  cover  of 
the  woods.  While  there  we  saw  the  enemies'  skirm- 
ishers coming  up  the  ravine,  along  the  edge  of  the 
woods,  and  thought  we  would  give  them  a  shot  or 
two. 

I.  fired  one  shot  but  Ashley  did  not  wart 

I  had  hardly  fired  when  my  horse  gave  a  quick 
jump  around  which  made  me  think  she  had  been 
hit. 

[56] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


The  firing  from  our  rear  by  this  time  was  much 
worse  than  in  our  front  and  I  called  to  Ashley  to 
take  to  the  woods. 

1  guided  my  horse  towards  the  woods,  which  was 
not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  feet  away. 

Just  at  the  edge  was  a  ditch,  into  which  I  and 
my  horse  tumbled.  I  was  under  the  horse  and 
thought  I  was  badly  injured  but  fortunately  was 
not. 

My  horse  was  up  first  and  ran  to  the  woods.  I 
crawled  in  as  fast  as  I  could,  which,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, was  rather  slow. 

It  was  about  dark  when  I  reached  the  woods  and, 
from  the  shouting  and  whooping,  I  was  quite  sure 
the  woods  were  surrounded.  ; 

I  could  hear  the  rebels  coming  and  I  crawled  in- 
to the  thick  bushes  and  decided  to  crouch  there  until 
morning. 

Imagine  my  feelings  when  through  the  day  I 
learned  that  the  rebels  were  drunk  and  not  taking 
any  prisoners ;  that  there  was  no  quarter  shown. 

I  acknowledge  I  was  terribly  frightened  at  the 
position  I  was  in  and  I  crouched  down  as  low  as 
possible  so  as  not  to  attract  attention. 

A  large  part  of  the  rebel  army  camped  in  the 
woods;  in  looking  for  wood  for  their  fires  they 
came  within  a  few  feet  of  me.  I  could  see  them 
around  their  camp  fires  close  by.  They  cooked 
their  food  and  after  a  while  settled  down. 

[57] 


Talcs  of  War  Times. 


I  lay  in  the  bushes  awake,  shivering  with  the 
cold  and  fear  of  being  captured,  until  two  or  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  I  fell  asleep. 

When  I  awoke  about  six  there  was  not  a  soldier 
near  me. 

I  could  hear  the  rumble  of  the  artillery  wagons 
on  the  road  towards  Warrington. 

After  looking  carefully  around  and  seeing  no  one 
near  I  started  out. 

I  remembered  hearing  the  day  before  that  the 
regiment  expected  to  be  at  Rappahanock.  I  thought 
by  being  careful  I  could  join  them  there.  Being 
well  acquainted  with  the  country,  I  started  for  the 
opposite  side  of  the  woods,  but  on  reaching  the  edge 
I  could  see  stragglers  in  all  directions  through  the 
fields,  between  the  woods. 

I  watched  for  a  good  chance  and  started  across 
the  fields  for  a  patch  of  woods  opposite.  I  went 
toward  an  old  log  cabin,  which  I  knew  was  not  used, 
and  had  just  reached  the  edge  of  the  woods,  feeling 
sure  I  would  soon  be  safe,  for  there  were  woods 
nearly  all  the  way  from  there  to  Bealton  and  Rap- 
pahanock Station,  five  miles  away. 

As  I  went  toward  the  log  cabin  a  rebel  soldier 
with  a  gun  in  his  hand  stepped  out  of  the  door. 
He  was  followed  by  another  soldier.  I  said : 

"Good  morning." 

As  the  soldier  did  not    point    his-  gun  at  me  I 


[58] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


thought  he  took  me  for  a  rebel  wearing  a  Yankee 
overcoat. 

I  asked  them  if  I  was  on  the  road  to  Foxes  Ford 
and  kept  walking  toward  them.  One  of  them  smiled 
and  said  I  would  soon  be  on  the  road  to  Kichmond. 
He  said : 

"We  know  you;  give  up  jour  arms." 

I  said  there  was  no  need  of  trouble  and  handed 
them  my  saber  and  Colt's  revolver. 

The  sharp  carbine  I  covered  up  in  the  woods  with 
dirt  and  leaves  before  I  met  these  men. 

They  had  stayed  in  the  old  place  all  night  and 
were  just  ready  to  join  their  command  when  they 
captured  what  they  called  a  Yank. 

They  brought  me  to  a  house  near  Sulphur  Springs 
where  we  all  had  a  good  breakfast. 

While  there  I  got  acquainted  with  a  young  man, 
not  more  than  20  years  old,  who  was  a  member  of 
Gen.  Pickett's  staff.  I  think  he  was  a  nephew  of 
the  general's. 

All  at  the  house  were  friendly  people  and  used 
me  well. 

While  there  I  saw  a  remnant  of  the  famous  Black 
Horse  Cavalry  and  a  sorry  sight  some  of  them  were, 
without  shoes  and  poorly  clad.  They  did  not  belong 
to  the  regular  rebel  soldiers,  but  were  an  independ- 
ant  command  or  what  we  called  "guerillas." 

The  men  I  was  with  belonged  to  Jackson's  old 


[59] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


command  and  as  their  regiments  were  far  back  in 
the  rear,  we  waited  for  a  time  on  'the  roadside. 

While  there  quite  a  number  of  remarks  were  made 
about  the  well  fed  Yankee,  such  as  "where  did  you 
get  him,  etc." 

I  admit  I  had  been  well  fed  and  had  as  good 
clothes  on  as  Uncle  Sam  furnished  and  felt  natter- 
ed because  I  was  dressed  better  than  they  were. 

When  Jackson's  old  command  came  along,  we 
dropped  in  and  marched  about  four  or  five  miles 
toward  Warrington,  where  I  was  turned  over  to  the 
guard  who  had  charge  of  the  prisoners,  and  strange 
to  say  T  was  surprised  to  find  so  many  of  my  com- 
pany and  regiment. 

I  saw  Generals  Hill  and  $uell.  One  of  them 
rode  in  a  buggy  and  had  a  leg  off. 

All  the  prisoners  were  started  for  Sulphur 
Springs  that  night  and  we  had  a  chance  to  see  the 
largest  part  of  the  rebel  army. 

We  staid  at  Sulphur  Springs  that  night  and 
next  morning  started  for  Culpepper  Court  House. 

We  waded  the  Hazel  river  and  as  the  morning 
was  quite  frosty,  I  took  a  frightful  cough  which 
lasted  five  or  six  weeks  after  reaching  Richmond. 

We  staid  in  Culpepper  Court  House  one  night 
and  one  night  at  Charlottville. 

When  we  arrived  at  Richmond  we  were  assigned 
to  Libby,  which,  by  the  way,  was  the  best  and  clean- 
est place  we  had  been  in.  It  wras  used  more  as  a 

[60] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


receiving  depot  than  a  prison.  There  we  were  'told 
to  give  up  what  money  we  had  and  they  would  re- 
turn it  on  release  from  prison. 

If  we  did  not  do  this  we  would  be  searched  and 
they  would  confiscate  what  they  found. 

After  this  we  were  assigned  to  what  is  known 
as  the  old  Steam  Laundry  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  city. 

We  staid  there  about  a  month  and  while  there  I 
saw  some  Yankee  tricks  played.  Some  of  the  boys 
had  thin  blotting  paper  with  their  writing  paper, 
which  was  nearly  the  color  and  thickness  of  the 
confederate  money.  This  was  cut  up  in  pieces  the 
size  of  their  one  and  two  dollar  bills  and  after  dark 
there  was  quite  a  trade  with  the  rebel  soldiers  who 
were  on  the  make. 

About  all  the  blotting  paper  was  exchanged  for 
bread,  rough  and  ready,  syc^t  potato  pie  and  corn 
whiskey. 

The  smartness  was  not  all  on  our  side,  for  some 
of  the  boys  who  had  rebel  money  passed  out  f  10  or 
$20  confederate  bills,  after  bargaining  for  a  couple 
of  dollars'  worth  of  goods,  and  have  not  yet  re- 
ceived their  change. 

There  was  quite  a  trade  for  our  money,  one  dollar 
of  it  was  worth  ten  in  the  confederate.  Ten  dollars 
in  the  confederate  or  one  dollar  in  greenbacks  would 
purchase  ten  very  small  biscuit;  two  dollars  in 
greenbacks  or  twenty  dollars  in  confederate  would 
pay  for  a  canteen  full  of  corn  whiskey. 

[61] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


While  in  this  building  the  boys  did  not  suffer 
for  tobacco,  for  in  one  room  it  was  four  or  rive  in- 
ches deep  on  the  floor  and  they  claimed  it  was  very 
good. 

While  here  some  days  we  were  cut  short  of 
rations,  which  showed  mismanagement  on  the  part 
of  somebody.  I  remember  one  day  of  having  to 
divide  two  and  one-fourth  loaves  of  bread  between 
twelve  men  in  my  squad. 

We  were  divided  into  squads  of  twelve  each  and 
each  squad  would  pick  one  of  their  number  to  draw 
the  food  and  divide  it  in  equal  parts. 

This  was  a  thankless  job. 

A  hungry  man  would  see  a  comrade  get  a  few 
crumbs  more  than  himself  and  many  a  skirmish 
there  was  over  the  division  of  the  food. 

We  struck  on  a  plan  that  did  away  with  some  of 
the  fault  finding  by  giving  each  man  a  number  from 
one  to  twelve.  We  would  give  a  list  of  twelve  num- 
bers to  a  man  who  would  turn  his  back  and  the 
sergeant  would  point  out  a  ration  and  ask  to  whom 
it  belonged.  The  man  would  call  out  any  number 
he  chose  until  all  were  distributed.  Even  then  there 
was  grumbling. 

There  was  a  small  man  who  seemed  to  have  charge 
of  the  prisoners.  They  called  him  Capt.  Todd  and 
we  were  told  he  was  a  brother  of  Mrs.  A.  Lincoln. 
We  were  surprised  to  hear  of  it,  and  being  in  the 
rebel  army  it  seemed  strange  to  us  that  this  little 
man  seemed  to  be  a  red  hot  rebel  by  his  talk. 

[62] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


There  was  quite  a  squad  of  our  men  who  were 
continually  singing  church  hymns  and  one  of  the 
leading  singers,  who  wore  a  cavalry  coat,  looked  ex- 
actly like  the  pictures  I  have  seen  of  the  Hon.  Warn- 
er Miller.  , 

Of  course  he  was  a  young  man  then  and  looked  a 
good  deal  smaller  than  Mr.  Miller  does  now. 

We  staid  at  the  Laundry  one  month  and  were 
then  removed  to  a  building  almost  opposite  Libby, 
known  as  'the  Pemberton  building.  The  building 
consisted  of  four  stories.  The  prisoners  were  as- 
signed to  the  upper  three  and  the  guards  to  the 
ground  floor.  I  was  up  in  the  top  story  where  the 
roof  slanted  on  both  sides. 

While  in  this  building  I  saw  a  prize  fight.  Our 
crowd  was  made  up  of  all  kinds  of  people,  ministers, 
lecturers,  bounty  jumpers,  clog  dancers,  muscians, 
gamblers,  etc. 

A  Prof.  Train  gave  us  lectures  on  philosophy  and 
other  subjects. 

An  Episcopal  minister,  who  claimed  to  have  been 
ordained  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  preach- 
ed and  prayed  and  swore  for  us  very  often.  The 
poor  man  became  insane  and  imagined  himself  Lord 
Lyons,  the  British  minister  at  Washington.  He 
finally  got  so  bad  that  he  was  removed  to  Libby. 

On  the  same  floor  was  a  tall,  raw  boned  English- 
man, whose  name  was  Collins.  He  was  such  a 
fighter  and  raider  on  small  speculators  that  we 


[63] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


called  him  Mosby  the  raider.  He  and  his  gang  stole 
all  the  blankets,  overcoats,  etc.,  in  our  room.  As 
the  gang  was  along  side  of  my  partner  he  seemed 
very  good  to  us,  for  my  partner  was  something  of  a 
card  player  and  always  had  money  and  generally 
divided  the  corn  whiskey  with  Mosby  and  his  gang. 

We  felt  secure  because  we  lost  nothing  and  the 
others  seemed  to  loose  everything.  We  flattered 
ourselves  that  we  would  be  all  right  with  the  gang. 

My  partner  went  to  the  hospital  and  a  very  few 
nights  afterwards  I  woke  up  to  find  my  overcoat 
and  boots  were  gone. 

I  had  my  boots  under  my  head  and  my  overcoat 
over  me.  This  same  Mosby  was  hung  in  Anderson- 
ville  prison  in  July  or  August,  1864,  along  with  five 
or  six  other  toughs,  by  our  own  men  for  raiding  and 
killing  people. 

I  was  barefooted  for  six  weeks  in  this  place,  when 
I  got  a  pair  of  shoes,  I  think  from  our  Sanitary 
Commission,  whom  the  confederates  allowed  to 
send  us  shirts,  stockings,  j)ork  and  beans,  which 
were  issued  to  us  three  or  four  times  a  week,  with 
corn  bread  and  a  pound  of  sweet  potatoes,  which 
they  gave  us  in  addition  to  the  regular  ration. 


[64] 


Fight  of  Monitor  and   Merrimac. 


See  Appendix. 


Battle  of  Atlanta. 


See  Appendix. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEEN. 

Starts  for  Andersonville  Prison  and  Makes  a  Thril- 
ling Escape. 

The  last  of  January  we  were  removed  'to  Belle 
Island,  I  considered  this  the  worst  place  I  had  yet 
seen.  We  were  crowded  in  little  tents  and  had  hard- 
ly room  to  lie  down. 

We  suffered  very  badly  with  the  cold  for  the 
winter  was  severe.  Although  there  was  no  snow 
there  was  plenty  of  ice. 

I  heard  it  said  that  there  were  twenty-eight 
frozen  cases  one  morning. 

While  here  my  eyes  became  affected  with  the 
smoke  from  the  green  pine  which  we  tried  to  warm 
ourselves  by.  I  could  not  tell  any  of  my  comrades 
except  when  they  spoke.  About  February  25th. 
I  crowded  myself  in  with  a  lot  of  prisoners  who 
were  to  be  sent  to  Andersonville,  Ga. 

After  being  out  a  few  days  my  eyes  were  all 
right  again. 

We  were  loaded  in  box  cars  and  shipped  south 

and  made  our  first  stop  at  Ealeigh,  N.  C.,  where 

we  camped  for  a  night,  I  think.     Our  next  stop  was 

at  Charlotte,  N.  C.     We  were  put  in  open  cars  here 

and  had  a  fine  view  of  parts  of  North  and  South 

[65] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


I  went  into  a  ploughed  field  and  lay  down  there 
for  the  balance  of  the  night,  taking  care  not  to  lie 
down  near  any  old  stumps,  for  I  thought  they  might 
be  full  of  snakes. 

I  went  to  sleep  toward  morning  and  when  I 
awoke  I  was  badly  mixed  up,  but  started  out  to- 
ward the  east. 

I  went  through  some  very  fine  woods  and  met 
a  darkey  who  brought  me  some  baked  sweet  pota- 
toes and  a  piece  of  hoe  cake. 

I  then  started  out  and  went  toward  the.  railroad, 
but  was  lucky  enough  to  get  into  one  of  the  swamps ; 
from  the  sound  of  the  cars  I  could  not  have  been 
o\er  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away. 

It  took  me  from  9  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
six  or  after  in  the  evening  to  reach  the  railroad. 
The  swamp  was  full  of  winding  creeks  and  when 
you  crossed  to  one  side  and  went  twenty  or  thirty 
yards  you  would  have  to  go  back  again. 

I  would  have  been  afraid  of  being  in  there  in 
warm  weather;  in  places  that  looked  to  be  up  to 
your  knees  you  would  sink  over  your  head,  unless 
you  were  careful.  I  kept  clear  of  swamps  after 
that 

It  was  the  last  day  of  February  or  the  first  of 
March  that  I  made  my  escape  from  the  cars. 

I  had  the  greatest  hardships  on  this  trip  I  endur- 
ed during  the  war.  I  had  the  fever  and  ague  right 
along  and  was  badly  crippled  with  rheumatism. 

[68] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


While  travelling  on  the  railroad  one  cold,  wet 
day  that  soaked  me  through,  in  crossing  a  long 
trestle  over  aswamp,  I  met  a  freight  train  and 
could  not  get  to  either  end  of  the  trestle.  I  was 
compelled  to  either  jump  into  the  swamp  below  or 
get  under  the  tracks;  there  was  no  room  but  for 
the  train.  I  finally  had  just  time  to  climb  down 
one  of  the  posts  under  the  track  and  cling  on  with 
my  arms  and  legs. 

The  trestle  shook  so  that  I  came  near  falling  off. 

It  was  near  dusk  and,  being  tired,  hungry  and 
cold,  I  left  the  track  and  lay  down  on  the  wet 
ground  and  went  to  sleep. 

About  midnight  I  awoke  to  find  I  was  unable  to 
move  and  thought  I  was  dying. 

I  realized  that  my  soldiering  had  come  to  an 
end. 

No  one  but  a  person  placed  in  this  condition  can 
know  the  thoughts  that  pass  through  the  mind. 
My  whole  life  from  childhood  passed  before  me — a 
panorama;  my  enlisting  three  times  at  Philadel- 
phia and  being  taken  out  of  the  army  by  my  par- 
ents; then  running  away  and  enlisting  again.  I 
thought  of  all  the  trouble  and  anxious  days  I  caus- 
ed my  parents  and  now,  after  all,  I  was  dying  in 
the  Georgia  swamp  and  they  would  never  know 
what  became  of  me. 

These  thoughts  made  me  about  wild  and  I  de- 
temined  to  make  a  desperate  struggle  to  get  up. 


[69] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


I  found  my  hands  and  arms  were  not  as  bad  as 
the  rest  of  my  body ;  after  a  long  struggle  I  got  over 
on  my  hands  and  face.  I  managed  to  crawl  to 
some  small  trees  a  few  feet  away  and  succeeded  af- 
ter awhile  in  getting  on  my  feet  with  the  aid  of 
the  trees. 

I  found  I  could  not  walk,  but  could  move  my 
feet  a  couple  or  three  inches  at  a  time;  by  great 
effort  I  determined  to  keep  on  the  move  for  it  was 
the  only  thing  that  could  save  ma 

I  thought  I  was  frozen  at  first  but  the  weather 
was  not  cold  enough  for  that ;  and  I  realized  I  was 
chilled  through  and  that,  with  the  rheumatism,  was 
the  real  trouble. 

I  made  for  the  railroad  track,  thirty  or  forty  feet 
away  and  when  near  the  road  I  stumbled  and  fell 
into  a  shallow  ditch.  The  fall  hurt  me  so  badly 
that  I  was  sure  it  would  end  me. 

On  the  contrary,  I  found  the  fall  helped  me,  for 
it  set  the  blood  in  circulation  and  after  recovering 
and  getting  up  I  found  I  could  move  much  better. 

It  had  stopped  raining  and  the  cold  wind  seemed 
to  blow  through  me.  I  kept  on  the  move  until 
morning  and  was  so  badly  used  up  that  I  felt  that 
if  I  came  across  any  one  I  would  give  myself  up, 
for  I  did  not  feel  able  to  go  any  farther. 

As  the  sun  came  I  warmed  up  and  found  I  could 
walk  some  better. 

I  did  not  stop  over  ten  minutes  or  so  at  a  time; 

[70] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


kept  on  the  move  all  day,  until  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  when  I  canie  across  a  darky  who  brought 
me  some  food  and  started  a  fire  in  the  swamp:, 
gathered  up  some  leaves  for  me  to  sleep  on;  also 
gave  me  matches,  which  came  handy  aftewards. 

He  told  me  I  was  about  fifty  miles  from  Savan- 
nah and  about  seventy  miles  from  Charleston  on  a 
B  line  and  that  they  could  hear  the  heavy  guns  .at 
Charleston. 

I  heard  the  boom  of  the  Swamp  Angel,  I  presume 
at  Morris  Island,  front  of  Charleston,  that  night. 

The  sound  of  our  guns  gave  me  courage  to  push 
along  toward  our  lines. 

I  kept  along  the  railroad  toward  Savannah ;  suf- 
fered very  much  from  the  effects  of  the  ague  and 
fever,  which  still  clung  to  me.  My  feet  became 
very  sore  and  when  bathing  them  I  noticed  that  the 
bottom  of  them  looked  as  though  a  carving  knife 
had  been  drawn  across  them  in  all  directions;  in 
washing  them  !the  flesh  would  roll  off.  I  suppose 
the  sand  in  my  shoes  was  the  cause  of  cutting  my 
feet  up  so  badly. 

While  travelling  along  the  railroad  I  was  tempt- 
ed several  times  to  set  the  trestle  work  on  fire, 
There  were  stretches  of  trestle  work,  perhaps  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  long,  in  the  swampy  places.  I 
could  have  destroyed  miles  of  it  if  I  had  chosen  and 
would  have  done  so  but  for  the  chances  of  being 
captured  and  perhaps  shot  or  hung. 


[71] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


I  could  not  see  what  benefit  it  could  be  to  our 
side;  it  was  away  in  the  interior,  far  from  our 
troops. 

The  Georgia  Central  railroad  was  not  protected 
in  this  section,  as  I  could  see. 

While  on  this  trip  I  saw  many  of  the  slaves  and 
found  them  very  friendly.  One  man  I  staid  with 
over  night  was  very  friendly.  He  gave  me  a  pair 
of  his  pants  in  exchange  for  my  blue  ones.  Mine 
were  woolen  and  his  were  checkered,  coarse  cotton, 
but  I  valued  the  exchange  for  it  assisted  me  to  look 
like  anything  but  a  Yank.  I  had  on  an  old  brown 
citizen's  overcoat,  which  I  cannot  remember  how  I 
got,  except  from  some  of  the  negroes ;  and  with  the 
exception  of  my  cap,  which  was  one  of  Uncle 
Sam's,  I  would  pass  for  a  rough  looking  boy,  for 
I  was  less  than  19  years  of  age  at  the  time,  al- 
though nearly  three  years  in  the  cavalry.  This 
darky  stocked  my  haversack  with  sweet  potatoes 
and  other  things.  He  told  me  if  I  should  come 
through  there  with  our  army  that  he  would  show 
me  where  they  kept  their  sweet  potatoes  and  also 
the  chest  where  Massa  kept  his  money. 


CHAPTER  FOURTEEN. 

Chased  By  Bloodhounds  and  Captured  While  Fight- 
ing the  Dogs  With  a  Club. 

After  leaving  this  place  I  became  more  bold  and 
I  felt  better. 

I  used  to  go  right  into  corn  fields  and  other 
places  among  the  slaves  and  felt  quite  at  home  with 
them. 

Just  before  nearing  a  station,  I  went  into  a  field 
along  the  side  of  the  railroad  and  spent  perhaps 
half  an  hour  with  the  darkies;  and  'then  left  and 
went  back,  as  if  going  in  the  opposite  direction 
from  the  way  I  was  going. 

I  started  east  towards  Whiteville,  which  was  near 

by. 

After  I  got  into  the  woods  but  a  short  distance, 
I  had  to  cross  a  sand  road  which  ran  toward  the 
railroad. 

After  going  a  mile  or  so  I  lay  down  and  had  a 
sleep  in  the  woods ;  when  about  two  o'clock  P.  M.  I 
was  awakened  by  hearing  dogs  barking,  which 
sounded  to  me  on  the  south  side  of  thte  railroad; 
knowing  there  was  a  very  large  swamp  over  there, 
I  thought  perhaps  it  was  a  party  out  hunting  deer 
or  some  other  game. 

[73] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


I  heard  the  dogs  coming  nearer  and  nearer,  in  the 
direction  where  I  was,  and  it  then  struck  me  that 
I  was  the  game  they  were  after. 

I  put  on  my  haversack  and  started  toward  the 
railroad  as  fast  as  possible. 

I  could  hear  the  dogs  gaining  on  me  as  I  ran  and 
I  made  the  best  time  I  could. 

After  a  half  mile  or  so  I  struck  the  railroad  track 
and  crossed  over  to  the  south  side.  The  dogs  came 
up  and  circled  around  me  and  increased  their  bark- 
ing. 

At  first  I  thought  perhaps  they  were  not  after 
me  and  as  they  came  up  I  tried  to  make  friends 
with  them:  and  started  to  go  under  the  railroad 
where  a  stream  of  water  ran  through  a  culvert  and 
hide  there;  but  I  found  the  dogs  became  more  bold 
and  jumped  and  snapped  at  me. 

I  then  did  the  best  I  could  with  the  stout  stick 
I  carried;  my  cavalry  saber  drill  came  in  play 
then.  I  fought  the  dogs,  ten  or  so,  when  a  very 
large  man  on  a  horse  came  up. 

He  had  a  pistol  in  his  hand. 

He  saw  me  hitting  some  of  the  dogs  and  said  if 
I  did  not  stop  it  he  would  shoot  me.  I  had  my 
Irish  up  now,  from  the  usage  of  'the  dogs,  and  told 
him  to  call  them  off  if  he  wanted  me  to  stop  hitting 
them ;  that  I  could  not  stand  still  and  let  them  eat 
:i»e  up. 

After  a  hard  tussel  and    threatening,  he  called 

[74] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


them  off;  but  I  had  to  keep  my    eye  on  them  for 
they  gave  me  some  severe  nips  after. 

He  then  asked  me  who  I  was,  where  I  was  going 
and  so  many  other  questions  that  I  finally  told 
him  I  was  an  escaped  Union  prisoner. 

The  train  for  Savannah  was  at  a  station  near  by 
and  was  about  to  start.  The  man  said  to  me : 

"Trot  along  here,  you  Yank.  I  want  to  put  you 
on  that  train ;  and  if  you  try  to  escape  I  will  make 
them  eat  you." 

Putting  spurs  to  his  horse  he  dashed  off  towards 
the  station  to  hold  the  train;  and  left  me  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  dogs. 

I  ran  after  him  as  ordered,  and  then  my  trouble 
with  the  dogs  began;  the  faster  I  tried  to  run  the 
more  they  jumped  on  me. 

I  had  perhaps  five  or  six  hundred  yards  to  run 
before  reaching  the  train  and  I  thought  I  would 
never  reach  it  without  being  torn  to  pieces. 

I  stopped  a  couple  of  times  to  give  them  fight; 
but  as  soon  as  I  started  again  they  seemed  more 
savage  than  ever;  after  a  hard  race  I  reached  the 
train.  The  nearer  the  cars  I  got  the  bolder  the 
dogs  were;  they  even  jumped  up  the  steps  of  the 
car  after  me. 

I  was  about  exhausted.     The  cars  were  full  of 
people  going  to  Savannah  and  it  was  a  great  sig*- 
for  them  to  see  me  and  the  dogs  making  a  run  for 
the  train.     My  coat  was  torn  to  ribbons  about  the 

[75] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


skirt,  pockets,  sleeves  and  shoulders.  The  cotton 
pants,  the  darkey  exchanged  with  me,  were  also 
badly  torn ;  but  strange  to  say,  'there  was  no  blood 
drawn  with  all  the  bites  I  received  from  the  dogs. 

I  think  that  the  good  cracks  I  gave  them  before 
the  man  came  made  them  rather  cautious ;  but  had 
my  race  for  the  cars  continued  a  few  minutes  long- 
er, I  should  have  been  badly  damaged  by  them. 

I  was  handed  over  to  a  soldier  and  a  policeman 
and  was  to  be  given  to  the  military  authorities  at 
Savannah.  On  getting  into  the  cars  I  saw  another 
pack  of  dogs  at  the  first  crossing  above  and  a  man 
on  the  cars  'told  me  they  had  a  regular  hunt  for  me. 
He  said  they  did  not  know  I  was  a  Union  soldier, 
but  saw  strange  footprints  in  the  sand  road  in  the 
morning  and  knew  it  was  a  stranger's  track  and 
started  the  dogs  out. 

I  was  out  seven  days  this  'time  before  being 
caught  by  the  blood  hounds. 

I  tried  to  make  my  escape  in  Savannah  depot  and 
I  think  I  would  have  succeeded,  but  the  crowd  was 
so  thick  there  was  no  chance  to  dodge  through 
them. 

I  was  handed  over  to  the  officer  at  the  brick  bar- 
racks, which  was  used  before  the  war  by  the  U.  S. 
troops.  I  was  put  in  a  cell  next  to  the  guard  room ; 
and  had  I  kept  awake  that  night  I  might  have  made 
my  escape,  for  I  heard  a  number  of  prisoners  dug 
through  the  brick  wall  from  the  guard  room  'to  the 
street  and  made  their  escape. 

[76] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


They  made  quite  a  racket  through  the  night  while 
digging  out  so  the  guards  could  not  'hear  them 
working. 

I  had  the  first  coffee  here  since  I  was  captured 
in  October.  It  was  rye  coffee,  without  milk  or 
sugar;  but  I  thought  it  was  a  treat. 

This  was  Sunday  and  as  my  cell  had  a  window 
which  faced  the  street,  I  saw  the  crowd  that  came 
to  see  the  hole  in  the  wall  and  some  of  the  guards 
said  they  had  a  Yankee  prisoner  there;  and  I  was 
the  next  attraction,  for  they  told  me  I  was  the  first 
Yankee  prisoner  they  ever  had  in  Savannah  bar- 
racks. 

I  showed  myself  at  the  grating  several  times 
through  the  day  and  some  of  the  people  wanted  to 
send  me  some  things  but  were  not  allowed. 

I  staid  here  two  nights  and  Monday  was  put  on 
the  cars  for  Macon,  about  200  miles  away.  Before 
being  brought  to  the  cars  they  brought  me  to  an 
office  where  I  gave  my  name,  regiment,  etc. 

A  young  man  from  Philadelphia,  who  was  in  the 
rebel  service,  advised  me  to  join  the  confederate 
army  and  be  released,  which  of  course  I  refused  to 
do. 

We  arrived  at  Macon  some  time  before  night  I 
was  brought  before  'the  Provo  Marshal,  a  one  arm- 
ed man,  who  asked  me  iny  name,  etc.  He  sent  me 
to  the  Macon  jail  fo  the  night. 


[77] 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN. 

First  Days  in  Andersonville  Prison  Gave  Promise 
of  What  icas  to  Come. 

Next  morning  I  was  put  on  a  train  for  Anderson- 
ville prison  pen.  I  arrived  there  and  was  turned 
ever  to  the  officer  in  charge,  who  was  known  by 
the  name  of  Adjutant  and  who  was  a  very  fair  kind 
of  a  man. 

A  ball  and  chain  was  always  put  on  any  one  try- 
ing to  make  their  escape  and  these  orders  w^ere  to 
be  carried  out  in  my  case,  when  Mr.  Duncan,  the 
quartermaster,  spoke  to  the  adjutant  and  said  he 
should  not  put  one  on  me  as  he  did  not  think  I 
would  try  to  escape. 

"Will  you,  Yank?"  said  the  adjutant  to  me, 

I  said  I  would  not  and  he,  being  partly  intoxicat- 
ed, said : 

"I  will  let  you  off  this  time,  but  if  you  try  to  es- 
cape again  I  will  shoot  you." 

So  I  was  in  luck  this  time.  This  man  was  in 
charge  only  a  short  time,  when  Capt.  Writz  took 
charge.  In  Andersonville  I  found  my  old  com- 
rades and  also  the  five  men  who  had  made  their 
escape  from  the  cars  just  before  I  did,  were  all  re- 
captured the  next  day,  after  leaving  the  cars. 

[78] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


I  reached  Andersonville  March  10th,  1864,  about 
ten  days  later  than  the  other  boys.  I  was  assigned 
to  the  3rd  squad,  8th  department. 

There  was  plenty  of  room  inside  the  stockade  at 
this  'time,  there  not  being  more  than  five  thousand 
prisoners.  I  suffered  badly  with  rheumatism  for 
a  long  time  after  arriving  at  Andersonville.  I  was 
so  bad  that  I  could  not  get  around  the  camp. 

There  were  a  number  of  stumps  and  parts  of  trees 
through  the  camp  and  we  had  fires  by  which  to  cook 
and  keep  warm.  They  were  all  pitch  pine  and 
when  burned  made  a  bla,ck  smoke,  which,  after  a 
while,  gave  most  of  the  men  a  dark  color;  in  some 
cases  as  dark  as  negroes. 

They  gave  what  they  called  soap  once.  It  looked 
just  like  blue  clay  and  was  so  soft  that  we  got  it  on 
a  chip  from  them.  We  could  smell  it  on  our  hands 
the  day  after  using  it. 

In  the  same  squad  I  was  in  was  a  one-legged  crip- 
ple, Herbert,  whom  Capt  Wirtz  ordered  the  guard 
to  shoot  sometime  afterwards;  and  which  was  one 
of  the  principle,  causes  on  which  Wirtz  was  execut- 
ed after  the  war  by  the  government  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

This  Herbert  seemed  to  be  a  well  educated  man; 
could  speak  a  number  of  languages;  but  from  my 
acquaintance  with  him,  I  found  him  to  be  a  very 
nen^ous,  fidgity  and  suspicious  man.  Our  own 
men  disliked  him  for  they  thought  he  let  the  rebels 

[79] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


know  when  there  were  any  tunnels  underway.  He 
seemed  to  be  a  little  off  in  the  upper  story;  if  he 
informed  the  rebels,  I  don't  think  it  was  for  love 
of  them;  but  perhaps  he  thought  it  would  avoid 
trouble,  for  a  great  many  thought  the  rebels  would 
rake  the  camp  with  guns  on  the  rise  of  ground  in 
front  of  the  gates. 

It  was  surprising  to  see  how  cowardly  a  great 
tii any  of  our  men  were.  After  all,  there  were  some 
good  reasons  for  our  men  feeling  so;  they  were  so 
discouraged  by  the  hardship  they  received  that 
there  wras  no  pluck  left  in  .them.  A  large  number 
became  idiots  and  were  peevish  and  childish. 

I  don't  think  that  one  man  in  a  thousand  thought 
it  possible  for  a  person  to  escape  to  the  Union  lines, 
even  if  he  was  outside  the  stockade.  My  tent  mates 
often  chaffed  me  for  thinking  I  could  get  away  and 
they  nicknamed  me  Dick  Turpin. 

T  always  insisted  that  the  Union  lines  could  be 
reached;  and  I  would  try  again  or  die  in  the  at- 
tempt. 

While  in  Andersonville  I  was  nearly  naked  for 
pants.  I  had  a  band  around  my  waist,  some  cloth 
below  the  knee  and  a  little  to  cover  the  thighs.  My 
shoes  were  played  out,  shirt  and  blouse  were  short 
of  sleeves  and  my  arms  were  bare  up  to  the  should- 
ers. The  old  coat  I  had  on,  the  dogs  put  the  finish- 
ing touch  to  and  was  fit  for  nothing  but  a  pillow. 
I  was  barefooted  for  four  or  five  weeks,  when  a 

[80] 


3attle  of  Five    Forks. 


See  Appendix. 


Battle  of  Gettysburg. 


See  Appendix. 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


friend  of  mine,  Henry  Glunt,  who  was  in  the  hospi- 
tal nursing,  took  a  good  pair  of  pants  off  a  dead 
man  and  gave  his  old  ones  to  me. 

A  short  time  after  a  man  named  Fagan  gave  me 
a  pair  of  shoes,  which  I  think  he  hooked  somewhere. 
I  felt  as  if  I  was  dressed  well  enough  for  a  tramp, 
if  I  got  the  chance. 

Inside  the  stockade  was  nothing  but  misery  and 
despair,  while  outside  the  stockade  everything  look- 
ed so  green  and  nice  that  I  could  think  of  nothing 
but  my  escape. 

The  night  of  May  3rd  there  was  a  tunnel  com- 
pleted and  a  number  of  us  got  ready  to  go  out;  but 
there  was  only  one  or  two  got  through,  when  they 
were  discovered  by  the  guard.  The  last  man  that 
went  through  was  a  little  man  named  Connolley 
who  could  not  have  been  more  than  twenty  years 
old;  but  looked  more  like  seventeen,  on  account  of 
his  size. 

Connolly  was  an  old  offender  and  wore  two  balls 
and  chains  on  his  ankles,  up  to  the  time  of  his  es- 
cape ;  the  balls  and  chains  he  left  in  the  prison. 

When  the  guard  fired  on  Connolly  all  the  drums, 
bugles  and  other  things  that  could  make  a  noise, 
were  brought  in  play  and  we  were  all  expecting 
the  battery  would  rake  us  with  grape  and  canister 
in  the  dark;  and  we  felt  as  if  we  had  reached  the 
end  of  our  rope;  but  things  quieted  down.  They 
got  outi  hounds  after  the  escape,  but  Connolly  was 


[81] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


not  caught  and  he  told  me  afterward  that  he  went 
direct  east  from  the  stockade  until  he  reached  Flint 
River,  about  four  miles  away  and  found  a  skiff 
which  he  got  into. 

The  blood  hounds  reached  the  river  soon  after 
'he  did  and  sprang  into  the  water  after  him,  but 
Connolly  killed  all  that  came  near  the  boat  by 
cracking  them  on  the  head  with  a  stick. 

I  understood  that  there  were  but  two  or  three 
dogs  left  at  the  prison,  out  of  the  pack  that  was 
kept  there  for  that  purpose.  It  was  a  lucky  thing 
for  Connolly  that  he  wa£  not  caught  for  the 
chances  were  that  they  would  have  shot  him.  Con- 
nolly had  the  best  grit  of  any  man  or  boy  I  ever 
knew.  He  was  not  afraid  of  anything. 

I  have  seen  Capt  Wirtz  shake  his  pistol  in  Con- 
nolly's face  and  threaten  to  shoot  him,  if  he  did  not 
tell  him  something  he  wanted  to  find  out.  Connol- 
ly simply  folded  his  arms  and  told  Wirtz  to  shoot 
away  if  he  wished;  but  if  he  shot  him  he  would 
lose  three  or  four  rebel  generals  who  were  prisoners 
in  the  north. 

This  made  Wirtz  so  angry  that  I  believe  he  would 
have  sliot  had  they  been  outside  of  the  prison. 

He  never  would  have  got  out  alive,  for  there  were 
very  fewT  men  but  who  would  have  given  a  hand  to- 
ward killing  him,  for  he  was  very  brutal. 

One  day  Wirtz  had  us  in  line,  about  six  in  the 
morning,  for  the  purpose  of  counting  us.  He  was 

[82] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


bound  to  count  the  whole  camp  to  know  the  exact 
number,  and  kept  us  there  until  noon  in  the  hot 
sun.  Men  dropped  in  their  places,  overcome  with 
weakness  and  heat,  hunger  and  diseases. 

They  always  counted  one  side  of  the  camp  at  a 
time,  and  then  'they  went  to  the  other  side.  Some 
of  the  men  would  be  counted  in  a  new  squad  and  be 
counted  again  so  as  to  draw  a  ration  in  each  squad. 


CHAPTER  SIXTEEN. 

Tells  of  the  Terrible  Times  Union  Soldiers  Had  in 
Andersonville  Prison. 

Before  leaving  Kichmond  the  rebels  allowed  the 
relatives  and  friends  of  the  prisoners  to  send  goods 
of  any  kind  in  boxes  to  us ;  after  we  were  in  Ander- 
sonville about  six  weeks  or  so,  we  were  informed 
that  there  were  boxes  for  some  of  us. 

There  were  five  of  us  in  our  shanty,  Lew  Winters, 
Jos.  Wilson,  John  Erwin,  Joe  Moreland  and  my- 
self. Those  men  were  mostly  all  from  Pittsburg, 
Pa.,  and  with  the  exception  of  Wilson  were  be- 
tween thirty  and  forty  years  of  age. 

Joe  Moreland  and  I  each  received  a  box  filled 
with  good  coffee,  dried  beef,  ham,  cheese,  crackers, 
etc.  Some  of  these  things  were  spoiled,  the  crack- 
ers and  cheese  mostly.  I  will  never  forget  the 
breakfast  we  had  next  morning. 

Some  of  the  boys  bought  some  corn  meal  and 
soda;  then  borrowed  an  old  iron  skillet,  with  a 
cover  on,  and  baked  a  raised  corn  cake  about 
thirteen  or  fourteen  inches  in  diameter  and  two  in- 
ches thick.  We  borrowed  what  cups  we  could,  so 
each  man  would  have  a  good  cup  of  coffee;  we  also 

[84] 


Adventufes  of  Tom  Hinds. 


had  some  dried  beef  and  ham  and  when  everything 
was  ready,  John  Erwin  was  the  first  to  taste  the 
coffee  and  he  shouted  out. 

"Oli !  boys,  just  taste  the  coffee.  It  is  the  best  I 
ever  tasted." 

John  was  rig-lit,  for  we  all  thought  the  same 
about  the  coffee  and  the  other  things. 

We  were  all  perfectly  happy  to  die  after  having 
one  good  square  meal. 

I  can  never  forget  how  good  that  coffee  tasted. 
If  we  did  have  good  things,  we  were  not  selfish  with 
them ;  we  gave  some  to  the  boys  in  the  hospital  as 
long  as  they  lasted. 

When  we  first  came  to  Andersonville  we  did  our 
own  cooking.  We  were  given  a  quart  of  corn  meal 
each  day  and  a  small  piece  of  pork,  ham  or  half 
corned  beef. 

While!  we  received  this  amount  we  lived  quite 
fairly.  I  generally  cooked  a  cake  in  a  half  can- 
teen. We  had  no  salt,  soda  or  anything  like  that. 
When  the  cake  was  hard  enough  to  be  placed  on  the 
edge,  it  was  put  before  the  fire  to  bake  and  then  I 
put  the  meat  into  the  half  canteen  to  fry  or  boil  as 
it  might  be.  When  it  was  done  I  partly  filled  the 
canteen  with  water  and  then  dipped  my  cake  into 
it;  and  my  appetite  was  such  that  I  never  when  a 
boy  tasted  sponge  cake  that  tasted  as  good  as  that 
corn  cake,  dipped  in  the  gravy. 

When  my  canteen  played  out,  I  mixed  up  the 

[85] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


meal  and  placed  it  on  a  piece  of  pitch  pine  slab 
and  placed  it  before  the  fire  until  it  was  hard 
enough  to  prop  on  an  edge  and  bake  each  side  al- 
ternately. 

This  cake  did  not  taste  as  good  as  formerly,  for 
while  baking  the  pitch  from  the  slab  worked  into 
the  cake  and  no*  one  but  a  hungry  person  could 
eat  it. 

After  the  prison  began  to  fill  up  they  began  to 
cook  for  us,  and  then  our  rations  were  cut  until  our 
corn  cake  was  about  four  and  one-half  inches  long 
by  two  and  one-half  inches  wide  for  a  day.  This 
was  issued  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

We  had  mush  given  to  us  once  in  a  while  with  a 
small  bit  of  meat. 

About  the  last  of  May  my  mate  Winters  became 
so  bad  with  dysentery  and  scurvy  that  he  was  sent 
to  the  hospital.  I  never  expected  to  see  him  again, 
for  it  was  a  rare  thing  for  any  man  to  get  in  the 
condition  he  was  in  and  recover. 

There  was  no  medicine  to  give  the  sick,  in  fact, 
one  of  the  doctors  told  me  so  when  I  was  examined 
for  some  internal  trouble. 

They  had  a  pen  outside  the  south  gate  where 
some  mornings  they  allowed  anyone  that  was  not 
well  to  be  examined  by  the  doctors. 

While  out  here  and  awaiting  my  turn,  I  got  into 
conversation  with  a  guard  and  noticing  a  hole  in 


[86] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


the  ground  just  outside  the  stockade  I  enquired 
what  it  was. 

He  told  me  it  was  a  tunnel  that  was  nearly  com- 
pleted when  it  was  discovered. 

They  had  no  suspicion  there  was  one  there  and 
when  the  guard  was  walking  his  beat,  he  broke 
through  the  ground  onto  a  man's  back  and  was  so 
frightened  that  he  ran  away  from  his  post.  The 
other  guards  had  quite  a  laugh  at  him. 

While  out  in  the  doctor's  pen  I  saw  a  number  of 
prisoners  who  were  bucked  and  gagged.  I  was  told 
they  tried  to  get  away  or  did  something  that  dis- 
pleased Wirtz.  I  understood  they  were  kept  in 
that  position  from  one  to  three  days  at  a  time. 

After  being  punished  in  this  way  they  were  turn- 
ed into  the  stockade,  with  a  ball  and  chain  or  two 
as  the  case  called  for. 

Most  of  the  men  that  had  these  on  managed  to 
take  them  off  about  every  day;  but  when  the  ser- 
geant came  in  to  count,  as  they  did  quite  often,  they 
would  have  the  ball  and  chain  on  all  right. 

Wirtz  and  his  assistants  knew  that  some  of  them 
took  them  off;  but  could  not  understand  how  it  vvas 
done,  for  the  shackles  were  rivited  around  the 
ankle. 

The  sergeant  said  to  Connolly  and  another  man 
that  he  knew  they  took  theirs  off ;  but  he  could  not 
tell  how  the  Yanks  did  it. 

It  was  very  simple.     They  filed  the  head  of  the 

[87] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


rivet  off  so  that  it  would  slip  through  and  when 
they  put  the  shackles  on  again,  they  would  get  a 
musket  ball,  hammer  it  down  to  the  right  size  and 
rivet  one  end,  fit  it  in  and  then  riyefc  the  other 
head. 

The  reason  the  rebels  did  not  discover  this  is  that 
they  put  a  dark  paint  on  the  chain  and  band  and  the 
boys  would  blacken  the  head  of  the  rivet  with  ink. 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEEN. 

Tom  Plans  to  Escape  From  Further  Horrors  or  Die 
in  the  Attempt. 

Through  May  and  the  early  part  of  June  they 
brought  new  prisoners,  nearly  every  day,  and  there 
were  so  many  that  they  could  not  cook  for  all.  so 
they  furnished  some  rations  for  the  new  men  to 
cook  for  themselves.  Every  day  they  would  call 
for  new  squads  to  furnish  some  men  to  go  into  the 
woods  for  fuel  to  cook  with ;  also  to  get  some  brush 
to  build  a  shelter. 

June  6th  I  rang  myself  in  as  one  of  the  new  men, 
for  they  were  not  always  there  to  go;  and  when 
the  number  of  the  detachment  and  squad  was  called, 
it  was  nothing  new  for  some  of  us  old  residenters 
to  present  ourselves. 

Any  of  the  guards  half  sharp  could  see  that  we 
were  not  the  new  men  and  we  had  often  been  re- 
fused, but  tried  again. 

This  day  I  made  up  my  mind  to  make  my  escape, 
if  it  was  possible. 

We  went  out  of  the  south  gate  around  the  north 
end  of  the  stockade  for  our  fuel. 

I  kept  away  as  far  as  I  could  from  the  rest  of  the 
squad  and  was  often  cautioned  to  keep  close  by. 

[89] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


Twice  I  would  have  attempted  to  run,  but  for 
one  guard,  a  boy  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of 
age.  Once  I  got  out  of  sight  of  my  guards,  when 
the  boy  says. 

"Look  out  for  the  Yank  there." 

On  our  return,  I  was  about  to  jump  into  one  of 
the  large  pitch  pine  stumps  with  the  heart  burned 
out.  My  guard  had  his  back  turned  to  me  and  as 
the  saying  is,  look  before  you  leap,  I  did  and  found 
the  hollow  was  filled  with  hornets  or  wasps. 

We  returned  to  the  stockade,  but  I  was  crazy  to 
make  my  escape.  I  told  my  tent  mates  I  would  get 
away  or  be  shot  trying  to. 

The  8th  of  June  came.  We  drew  our  rations  and 
as  this  was  about  the  time  of  day  to  let  some  new 
men  from  the  squads  go  for  wood,  I  handed  my 
rations  to  Irwin,  Moreland  and  Wilson  saying: 

"Eat  them  for  I  will  get  away  today." 

They  looked  at  me  as  though  they  thought  me 
crazy.  I  bid  them  good  bye  and  started  for  the 
south  gate. 

They  were  calling  for  the  new  squads  to  send 
three  men  and  a  sergeant  for  each  squad. 

I  asked  a  man  who  wanted  to  go  out  and  get 
some  brush  for  us,  to  pick  up  some  others  and  re- 
present ourselves  as  one  of  the  squads. 

We  answered  the  call  and  when  our  squad  got 
just  through  the  gate,  ours  being  about  the  last, 
we  were  about  to  start  when  one  of  the  officers  said 


[90] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


to  the  party  having  charge,  that  they  were  not  all 
new  men  and  to  send  a  double  guard  with  us,  which 
they  did. 

Going  across  the  bridge,  near  the  cook  house, 
there  was  a  mule  team  with  a  lot  of  our  dead  men 
just  ahead  of  us ;  and  I  gave  but  one  look  for  I  fear- 
ed I  might  see  my  old  friend  and  tent  mate,  Wint- 
ers among  them. 

They  were  piled  up  on  that  wagon  like  a  load  of 
longs. 

We  went  quite  far  into-  the  woods  this  time  and 
one  man  and  I  pushed  farther  toward  the  east  than 
the  rest. 

I  knew  just  the  best  place  to  get  some  poles  to 
build  a  shelter  with  and  we  went  as  far  as  the 
guards  would  go  with  us. 

The  other  prisoner  did  not  know  of  my  inten- 
tions. He  had  an  axe.  One  of  the  guards,  a  tall 
young  man  said  to  the  other: 

"I  will  go  out  ahead  and  if  any  of  those  fellows 
try  to  get  away  I  will  head  them  off." 

I  did  not  like  this,  but  had  to  put  up  with  it.  I 
watched  him  as  far  as  I  could  see  to  know  where 
he  went,  for  it  was  escape  now  or  never  with  me. 

I  talked  to  the  other  guard  who  was  a  man  of 
perhaps  40  or  50.  He  was  rather  short  and  fleshy 
and  I  felt  sure  I  could  beat  him  in  a  foot  race,  if 
I  had  the  chance. 

I  found  out  all  about  him  in  a  short  time.     He 


[91] 


Talcs  of  Wat  Times. 


was  a  conscript  from  Mobile,  Ala,,  and  seemed  very 
good  natured. 

The  prisoner  with  the  axe  had  cut  down  some 
stuff  and  was  just  the  other  side  of  a  large  pine; 
about  three  feet  through,  that  lay  on  the  ground. 
I  crawled  over  the  tree,  still  talking  to  the  guard, 
and  the  man  with  the  axe  was  just  dropping  a  small 
sapling  with  a  bushy  top,  which  was  falling  toward 
me. 

I  went  toward  it  as  it  was  falling  and  ran  as  if  to 
get  out  of  the  way  of  it. 

I  darted  by  the  man  with  the  axe  and  in  less  than 
half  a  minute  I  was  out  of  sight  of  either  guard  or 
man. 

The  falling  tree  shut  me  out  of  sight  of  the  guard 
for  a  few  seconds;  and  he  being  on  the  other  side 
of  the  log,  did  not  realize  that  I  had  gone  until  I 
was  quite  a  distance  away. 

I  kept  to  the  right  as  much  as  possible  to  dodge 
the  other  guard  and  ran  to  the  edge  of  the  woods 
where  there  was  a  whole  rebel  brigade  camped. 

I  did  not  stop  for  I  knew  I  was  farther  out  than 
the  guard.  I  hugged  the  woods  enough  to  keep 
out  of  sight. 

I  had  not  gone  more  than  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
when  I  found  the  woods  were  quite  open  and  full 
of  people,  white  men  and  negroes. 

They  seemed  to  be  getting  out  timber  for  a  stock- 
ade, which  they  were  to  enlarge;  there  were  quite 
a  number  of  shanties  through  the  woods. 

[92] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


I  ran  like  a  wild  Indian  for  it  was  life  or  death 
with  me  now,  and  I  almost  ran  into  some  of  them, 
I  heard,  them  say : 

"What  is  the  matter  with  him ;  he  must  be  crazy, 
etc.,"  but  they  all  seemed  to  be  working  people  and 
did  no  shooting. 

I  ran  as  traight  north  as  I  could  and  soon  left 
the  wood  choppers  far  behind. 

I  think  I  had  made  about  two  miles  or  more  with- 
out a  stop  and  then  I  did  not  go  so  fast,  but  kept 
up  a  good  gait. 

I  was  not  more  than  two  and  one-half  or  three 
miles  from  the  prison  when  I  heard  the  dogs.  I 
knew  then  that  I  had  a  hard  tussel  ahead  of  me. 

I  pushed  along  as  fast  as  I  could  and  made  for 
the  railroad  which  I  crossed  about  four  miles  above 
Andersonville. 

I  could  hear  the  barking  of  the  dogs  very  plainly 
now  and  knew  there  was  no  time  to  lose.  I  looked 
for  a  stream  to  wade  in  and  break  the  scent  of  the 
dogs. 

To  the  west  of  the  railroad  there  was  a  creek 
which  ran  through  a  swamp.  I  went  for  that  and 
rushed  along,  for  the  dogs  were  not  far  off. 

I  found  the  bushes  overhanging  the  creek  and 
they  tore  nearly  all  the  clothes  off  of  me. 

It  was  about  half  a  mile  through  this  place;  but 
before  I  was  half  through  a  heavy  thunder  storm 
with  heavy  rain  came  on  and  then  I  knew  it  would 
kill  the  scent  of  the  dogs  and  I  felt  safe. 

[93] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


It  was  nearly  dark  when  I  got  through  and  I 
must  have  been  a  frightful  looking  sight  My  face, 
arms  and  legs  were  bleeding  from  the  scratches  of 
the  briars  and  bushes.  My  clothing  was  not  fit  for 
a  rag  picker. 

After  going  a  short  distance  up  a  hill  from  the 
bushes,  it  being  dark  now  and  being  exhausted 
and  hungry,  I  laid  down  under  a  tree  until  morn- 
ing. I  was  perhaps  about  five  miles  from  the 
prison. 

Wirtz  was  so  angry  that  we  did  not  get  any 
rations  at  all  that  day.  The  ration  we  drew  about 
four  o'clock  each  day  and  was  about  enough  to  give 
an  appetite  for  a  square  meal,  if  we  could  get  one. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEEN. 

Exciting  Events  Follow  Tom's  Clever  Escape  From 

Andersonville. 

After  leaving  where  I  staid  all  night  I  started 
west,  but  was  very  cautious.  I  was  very  hungry, 
not  having  eaten  anything  the  day  before. 

About  8  or  9  o'clock  I  saw  a  little  colored  girl 
carrying  a  basket  across  the  field  and  I  followed 
her  and  found  she  brought  it  to  an  old  man  that 
was  working  in  the  field  alone.  He  gave  me  part 
of  his  lunch  and  after  leaving  him  I  found  it  very 
difficult  to  make  any  headway. 

After  travelling  for  a  couple  of  days  I  was  sur- 
prised to  find  I  was  about  ten  miles  west  of  the 
prison.  I  thought  I  was  at  least  thirty  or  forty 
miles  away  from  the  prison. 

It  rained  some  every  day  and  I  had  my  fever  and 
ague  regular;  after  an  hour  or  so  of  the  chill,  the 
fever  would  come  on,  then  thirst.  I  would  drink 
the  first  water  I  could  reach ;  sometimes  it  was  from 
the  pools  in  the  woods  where  leaves  were  in  them. 

I  hardly  know  now  how  I  spent  those  three  days, 
but  I  travelled  both  day  and  night. 

The  afternoon  of  the  third  day  after  my  escape 

[95] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


I  was  passing  a  house  when  a  man  hailed  me  and 
asked  me  a  number  of  questions. 

I  told  him  I  belonged  to  the  26th  Alabama.  He 
wan'ted  to  know  if  I  knew  his  two  nephews  in  that 
regiment. 

I  asked  him  their  names  and  to  what  company 
they  belonged.  He  gave  me  their  names,  but  didn't 
know  'their  company.  I  told  him  there  was  none 
of  that  name  in  my  company  but  that  I  had  heard 
the  names  called  in  some  other  company.  I  ex- 
plained to  him  that  I  belonged  to  the  Mobile  cadets 
and  had  been  in  the  regiment  but  a  short  time  when 
I  was  wounded  at  Mine  Bun,  Va,,  and  had  been  in 
the  hospital  most  of  the  time  since. 

I  told  him  I  was  shot  through  the  thigh  and  was 
still  lame. 

I  made  some  excuse  about  where  I  was  going. 
He  wanted  me  to  come  into  the  house  and  stay 
awhile,  but  I  bade  him  goodbye  and  left. 

I  was  very  uneasy  for  I  thought  he  suspected  me 
of  being  an  escaped  Union  prisoner;  but  did  not 
have  the  pluck  to  attempt  to  take  me. 

After  leaving  I  thought  the  best  thing  to  do  was 
to  climb  a  tree.  Going  into  the  woods  out  of  sight 
I  did  so  and  staid  there  about  an  hour ;  then  I  came 
down  and  started  on. 

About  three  fourths  of  a  mile  from  there  I  saw 
some  slaves  at  work  in  a  large  field. 

I  kept  near  the  edge  of  the  wood  and  saw  a  woman 

[96] 


Battle  of  Antietam. 


See  Appendix. 


Battle  of  Shiloh. 


See  Appendix. 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


working  quite  a  distance  from  the  rest.  I  succeed- 
ed in  attracting  her  attention  and  told  her  I  would 
like  to  talk  to  her. 

She  came  over  near  where  I  was  and  I  told  her  I 
was  very  hungry  and  wanted  something  to  eat.  I 
told  her  who  I  was,  but  cautioned  her  not  to  say 
anything  to  the  rest  of  the  slaves. 

She  said  she  would  send  one  of  the  men  to  siee 
me. 

It  being  near  quitting  time  a  man  came  and  di- 
rected me  to  go  to  the  gin  house  which  we  could  see. 
As  soon  as  it  became  dusky  I  went  to  the  cotton 
gin  house,  and  about  an  hour  after  the  darky  came 
and  was  very  much  excited,  for  he  learned  the  man 
I  had  talked  to  had  gone  to  one  of  his  neighbors 
who  had  a  pack  of  hounds  and  they  were  going  to 
put  them  on  my  track. 

He  said  the  only  way  to  break  the  scent  of  the 
dogs  was  for  him  to  carry  me  on  his  back  to  a  place 
of  safety. 

I  got  on  his  back  and  he  almost  ran  with  me 
about  an  eighth  of  a  mile.  He  carried  me  within 
a  couple  of  hundred  feet  of  his  cabin  and  he  told 
me  I  must  not  get  on  the  ground,  but  to  climb  a 
tree  which  he  carried  me  to. 

I  think  it  must  have  been  a  holly  for  there  was 
a  lot  of  thorns  on  it. 

I  staid  in  the  tree  for  an  hour  or  so  and  as  the 
dogs  did  not  make  their  appearance  the  darky  told 


[97] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


me  to  come  down  and  he  brought  me  to  his  cabin 
where  there  were  a  number  of  both  men  and 
women. 

I  had  a  good  supper  and  they  gave  me  a  good 
pair  of  pants,  drawers,  a  coat  and  shirt. 

The  one  that  "had  carried  me  gave  me  an  old 
pistol,  single  shot ;  the  old  style  horse  pistol  as  they 
called  it  He  got  it  from  the  servant  of  a  Texas 
ranger.  He  also  gave  me  eight  musket  bullets. 

The  pistol  and  our  army  musket  took  the  same 
size  ball. 

The  clothes  they  gave  me  were  of  a  very  coarse 
cotton  cloth;  the  cut  of  the  coat  was  like  the  old 
style  continental  uniform,  a  cutaway  swallow  tail, 
but  not  very  long  tails;  it  was  a  very  durable  suit 
and  had  they  given  me  a  cap  I  would  have  passed 
as  a  POP"*  looking  rebel  boy. 

They  gave  me  a  haversack  with  a  rrood  stock  of 
cornbread  and  bacon ;  so  I  was  in  good  shape  when 
I  left  them. 

When  I  started  it  was  so  dark  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  see  anybody  on  the  road. 

I  met  but  one  person  and  we  did  no  talking  as  I 
remember;  it  was  so  dark  you  could  not  tell  whether 
it  was  a  white  or  black  man. 

I  travelled  all  morning  and  covered  all  the  dis- 
tance I  could. 

About  the  fourth  and  fifth  day  out  I  came  across 
a  young  darky,  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  He 


[98] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


could  not  speak  any  English,  I  knew  he  was  lately 
brought  from  Africa,  I  pointed  at  the  houses  in 
the  valley  below  and  he  said  McClellan.  I  presume 
he  meant  he  lived  in  one  of  those.  That  was  all  I 
could  get  from  him. 

My  feet  began  to  swell  so  that  it  seemed  impos- 
sible for  me  to  go  much  farther,  and  on  the  fifth 
night  out  I  found  a  cabin  and  went  in  at  midnight 
and  the  negro  told  me  he  would  get  a  pair  of  shoes 
big  enough  for  me,  which  he  did. 

They  were  the  largest  pair  on  the  plantation. 
I  would  say  they  were  Xo.  12  at  least.  He  also 
gave  me  some  mixture  which  he  said  would  be  good 
to  change  the  scent,  if  the  dogs  were  on  my  track. 

I  left  early  and  started  westward.  I  put  in  a 
miserable  day  with  the  rain  and  my  feet  troubled 
me  very  much. 

I  concluded  that  I  could  not  stand  it  to  walk 
to  our  lines  and  began  thinking  of  stealing  horses 
and  riding  as  far  as  I  could,  until  cornered;  and 
take  to  the  woods  if  discovered. 

I  thought  I  could  make  forty  to  fifty  miles  in  the 
night  with  a  good  horse. 


CHAPTER  NINETEEN. 

Tom  is  Betrayed  and  Captured   When   Suffering 
From  Fever  and  Ague. 

I  was  so  completely  used  up  that  it  seemed  im- 
possible for  me  to  go  further,  on  foot  or  horse,  so 
I  decided  to  find  a  place  to  stay  for  a  few  days  to 
get  in  condition  to  proceed. 

It  seemed  :to  me  that  I  had  tlhe  dumb  ague, 
rheumatism  and  all  other  ailments  combined;  the 
wood  tick  and  mosquitos  added  to  my  misery. 

It  rained  so  hard  it  was  difficult  to  walk,  owing 
to  the  soft  red  mud. 

Toward  evening  I  saw  some  negroes  working  in 
a  field  that  was  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
the  plantation  house, 

I  saw  one  of  them  and  had  quite  a  talk  with  him 
and  made  arrangements  to  stay  in  his  cabin  for  a 
few  days.  He  said  his  wife  worked  at  the  planta- 
tion house  as  a  servant  and  his  house  was  not  used 
during  the  day. 

I  enquired  about  the  horses  they  had  and  he  said 
there  was  one  that  was  first  class  as  a  saddle  horse ; 
there  were  others,  but  not  as  good. 

I  told  him  I  intended  to  steal  the  best  one  when 
I  was  ready  to  go. 

[100] 


Actvcntutes  of  Tom  Hinds. 


I  felt  happy  to  be  so  lucky  as  to  run  across  this 
negro. 

He  told  me  after  it  was  dark  enough  to  go  to  the 
cotton  gin  house  at  tlhe  crossroads,  which  I  did. 
He  came  to  see  me  shortly  afterwards  and  said  he 
would  bring  me  to  his  cabin  as  soon  as  it  was  dark 
and  the  rest  were  all  in  bed. 

He  told  me  not  to  be  alarmed  if  I  heard  them 
bringing  the  horses  and  mules  out  of  the  lower  part 
of  the  building,  which  seemed  to  be  a  stable.  He 
said  they  were  bringing  them  to  water. 

I  heard  them  going  out  but  not  in  the  same  di- 
rection. 

I  was  so  sick  with  fever  and  chills  at  the  time 
I  did  not  suspect  anything. 

The  darkey  came  three  or  four  times  to  see  me 
and  told  me  he  would  have  a  Avarm  fire  and  good 
supper  for  me  when  I  went  over. 

About  half  past  nine  or  ten  he  came  again  and 
said  they  were  all  in  bed  and  we  would  go.  He 
wanted  me  to  take  off  my  shoes  as  we  had  to  go  by 
tihe  white  folks  house  to  get  to  his  cabin.  I  had  a 
chill  on  and  told  him  I  would  make  no  noise  with 
the  shoes  on. 

We  started  across  the  road  and  went  on  the  east 
side  of  the  house  without  attracting  attention.  We 
went  into  the  cabin  and  found  three  other  darkeys 
there. 

I  noticed  the  fire  in  the  fire  place  was  very  low 
and  asked  them  why  tihere  was  not  a  better  fire. 

[101] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


I  was  shaking  badly  with  the  chills.  I  was  in  a 
terrible  shape;  my  clothes  were  soaked  from  the 
rain  during  the  day. 

They  placed  a  chair  in  front  of  the  fire  place  and 
before  sitting  down  I  took  my  horse  pistol  out  of 
my  pocket  and  laid  it  on  the  ground  floor  of  the 
cabin.  The  man  'that  I  came  in  with  took  it  up  and 
said: 

"What  you  call  this." 

I  told  him  what  it  was;  then  he  asked: 

"What  does  you  want  with  it?" 

I  told  him.  He  pretended  he  did  not  know  what 
a  pistol  was  or  what  it  was  used  for. 

They  stirred  up  ;the  fire  and  I  got  as  near  to  it  as 
I  could. 

A  knock  came  to  the  door  and  just  then  a  darkey 
took  hold  of  each  arm  and  another  stood  at  my 
back. 

I  thought  they  were  going  to  chafe  my  hands  to 
help  me  out  of  the  chill  at  first;  but  I  noticed  from 
the  way  they  caught  my  arms  they  were  trembling 
and  then  thought  it  strange  but  being  so  miserable, 
I  gave  no  attention  to  it 

The  darkey  who  had  my  pistol  said : 

"Come  in." 

I  heard  footsteps,  but  did  not  look  around.  The 
darkey  behind  took  hold  of  my  shoulders  and  the 
one  on  the  right  said : 

[102] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


"Don't  shoot,  for  God's  sake,  master ;  he  has  sur- 
rendered, he  surrendered." 

I  looked  over  my  shoulder  and  there  was  a  car- 
bine pointed  at  me ;  ndiJ  over  five  or  six  feet  away. 

I  cannot  say  that  I  was  very  much  star'tled,  owing 
to  the  condition  I  was  in.  He  ordered  the  darkies 
to  hold  me  fast  until  the  negro  who  brought  me 
there  would  search  me.  After  finding  the  bullets, 
powder  and  the  bottle  of  mixture,  the  negro  handed 
him  my  pistol  and  he  seemed  very  much  disappoint- 
ed, because  I  had  no  better  arms;  but  I  told  him  I 
was  lucky  to  have  that  much. 

With  this  man  'tihere  were  eight  or  nine  old  men, 
middle  aged  me  and  young  men,  who  were  armed 
with  every  kind  of  weapon  from  a  large  sword  to  a 
shot  gun.  They  even  had  a  neighbor  with  his 
blood  hounds. 

The    capture    seemed    to    help    my    chill 

I  kept  up  considerable  grit  under  the  circum- 
stances. I  was  not  impudent  nor  saucy;  but  in 
questioning  or  cross-questioning,  I  iheld  my  own. 

Shortly  after  searching  me,  a  member  of  ladies, 
young  and  old,  called  at  the  cabin  to  see  the  live 
Yankee,  -the  first  seen  in  the  section. 

The  man  who  pointed  the  carbine  at  me,  gave 
quite  a  humerous  speech  to  the  ladies,  saying : 

"Ladies,  walk  right  in  and  see  the  live  Yankee. 
He  is  perfectly  tame  and  don't  bite." 

He  also  got  off  considerable  more  in  that  line; 

[103] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


but  I  did  not  feel  offended,  for  my  condition  was 
such  that  I  felt  quite  sure  that  none  of  them  would 
fall  in  love  with  me,  so  I  gave  them  very  little  at- 
tention. 

After  I  was  stared  at  as  though  I  was  a  wild  ani- 
mal, the  man  called  his  colored  servant  and  said 
to  him: 

"Jake,  what  do  you  think  of  the  Yankees  now?" 

The  darkey  who  was  about  my  own  size,  looked 
me  over  and  said : 

"If  dey  all  look  like  dat  fellow,  it  don't  seem  as 
if  dey  could  do  as  much  as  dey  say  dey  can." 

This  I  considered  an  insult,  and  under  any  otiher 
conditions  I  would  have  been  in  his  wool. 

As  bad  as  I  was,  I  was  full  of  fight  and  felt  hurt 
by  the  darkey's  remarks,  for  all  the  darkies  I  came 
across  seemed  to  be  in  full  sympathy  with  me,  with 
a  few  exceptions. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY. 

Tom  Narroivly  Escapes  Hanging — Taken  to  Macon 

Jail  again. 

After  things  were  settled  down  some  and  I  was 
subjected  to  all  manner  of  questions  by  the  old 
planters  who  assisted  in  my  capture,  came  the  ques- 
tion as  to  what  they  would  do  with  me. 

One  said  to  "shoot  Tiim,"  another,  "to  hang  him" 
and  so  on. 

I  thought  'this  was  got  off  for  my  benefit  and  did 
not  consider  it  amounted  to  anything  but  to  scare 
me. 

Finally,  they  left  a  few  armed  boys  with  me  and 
went  outside  the  cabin ;  and  they  seemed  to  have  a 
great  argument,  which  I  did  not  learn  of  until  the 
next  day. 

Before  going  out  of  the  cabin,  the  man  Who  had 
charge  of  the  affair,  talked  with  me  about  where 
we  were ;  and  I  found  that  he  was  in  Jackson's  com- 
mand in  the  Shannandoah  Valley,  when  I  was  with 
Banks. 

We  talked  quite  a  lot  about  our  movements  in 
the  early  part  of  the  war.  He  was  friendly  to  me 
and  seemed  to  take  to  me  very  much. 

[105] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


I  never  was  without  two  or  three  guards  all 
night. 

In  the  morning  I  was  brought  over  to  the  large 
piazza,  of  the  plantation  house  and  it  was  as  hand- 
some a  place  as  I  ever  saw.  I  cannot  remember  the 
name  of  the  parities  who  lived  there. 

It  was  twelve  miles  west  from  a  railway  station 
called  Butler,  on  the  Macon  and  Columbus  K.  K. 
south  of  Fort  Valley  Junction. 

After  going  over  to  the  large  house,  the  old  men 
and  boys  who  guarded  me,  took  turn  at  breakfast. 

I  was  such  a  dangerous  character  that  they 
brought  my  breakfast  to  me  on  the  piazza. 

A  servant  was  bringing  my  breakfast  on  a  large 
server,  when  a  young  girl  who  had  been  standing 
in  the  doorway,  and  staring  at  me  for  at  least  a  half 
hour,  took  the  server  from  the  servant  and  brought 
it  to  me  herself. 

I  felt  quite  flattered  for  I  thought  she  must  be 
interested  in  the  Yank. 

When  she  handed  it  to  me  she  stood  as  far  away 
as  possible  and  ready  to  run  if  I  attempted  to  bite 
her. 

She  continued  her  staring  until  the  man  brought 
the  horse  for  his  master  to  escort  me  to  Butler, 
twelve  miles  away. 

The  man  mounted  his  horse  and  ordered  me  to 
go  ahead  of  him. 

He  had  a  Burnside  carbine,  captured  from  our 

[106] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


men.  This  was  a  seven  shooter.  He  also  had  a 
couple  of  revolvers. 

On  the  way  to  Butler,  it  being  a  very  warm  day, 
I  wanted  to.  walk  in  the  shade  of  the  woods;  but  he 
would  not  allow  me.  I  had  to  keep  in  the  middle 
of  'the  road. 

We  talked  nearly  all  the  way  and  I  learned  that 
he  had  been  with  his  command  in  Virginia,  and  he 
was  wounded  at  Yellow  Tavern,  where  the  rebel 
Gen.  Stewarti,  the  great  cavalry  general,  was  killed. 

He  wras  home  on  a  furlough  when  I  came  there 
and  he  told  me  some  things  which  were  hard  to  be- 
lieve; but  I  believed  him  at  the  time. 

He  said  'that  if  it  had  not  been,  his  father's  plan- 
tation I  was  captured  on  that  I  would  have  been 
shot  or  hung.  He  said  that  when  they  went  outside 
of  the  cabin  the  nigfot  before  to  decide  on  what  to 
do,  that  most  of  the  old  men  were  all  for  hanging 
or  shooting  me;  and  if  it  had  been  anywhere  else 
he  could  not  have  saved  me. 

He  said  he  told  them  that  I  was  a  soldier  and  he 
was  one  also  and  under  the  circumstances  he 
thought  it  was  his  duty  to  take  charge  of  me  and 
return  me  to  the  military  authorities.  He  insisted 
on  taking  charge  of  me  and  most  of  the  people  with- 
drew quite  angry,  because  they  could  not  have  their 
own  way. 

I  did  not  realize  my  condition  until  then.  He 
told  me  the  colored  man  I  talked  to  about  the 

[107] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


horses  was  their  overseer  and  he1  told  them  about 
my  intentions  of  stealing  the  horse  he:  rode,  which, 
by  the  way,  was  a  splendid  one. 

He  also  advised  me  not  ttio  trust  the  negroes,  af- 
ter he  gave  me  this  information. 

I  told  him  I  would  like  to  walk  in  the  shade  of 
the  woods,  he  said : 

"Yank,  I  cannot  trust  you." 

I  told  him  I  would  not  under  the  circumstances 
try  to  escape  from  him ;  but  it  was  of  no  use,  for  fhe 
said  if  I  should  escape  he  would  never  hear  the  last 
of  it.  So  I  had  to  content  myself  in  the  middle 
of  the  road,  under  the  scorching  sun. 

We  finally  reached  Butler  and  I  was  turned  over 
to  a  soldier  that  was  going  to  Macon. 

After  a  long  wait  the  train  came  and  we  started 
for  Macon  and  arrived  there  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning. 

We  staid  in  the  sitting  room  of  the  hotel  until 
daylight. 

The  soldier  thought  we  would  go  to  a  soldier  rest 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  and  have  breakfast. 

We  wenlt,  but  they  would  not  give  us  anything 
to  eat;  so  we  came  back  and  staid  around  the  hotel 
until  the  Provo  Martial's  office  opened,  which  must 
have  been  about  9  o'clock. 

At  the  office  I  gave  my  name,  regiment  and  com- 
pany, the  martial  asked  me: 


[108] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


"Have  you  been  here  before?     I  think  you  have." 

I  told  him  I  had  and  he  said : 

"Why  do  you  give  us  so  much  trouble  getting 
away? 

I  felt  quite  proud  of  mv  escape  from  Anderson- 
ville  and  in  a  braggadocia  way,  said : . 

"If  you  want  to  keep  us  there  you  want  to  feed 
us  better." 

"Damn  you,  we  will  keep  you  this  time,"  says  he. 

I  said,  still  in  a  bragging  style : 

"Maybe  you  will  and  maybe  you  won't;  it  all 
depends  on  how  you  use  us." 

I  was  ordered  to  the  Macon  jail,  where  I  had  been 
three  months!  ago,  after  being  captured  by  the 
blood  hounds.  This  was  June  16th.  I  left  Ander- 
sonville  June  8th  and  was  captured  on  the  14th. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-ONE. 

Makes  a  Clever  Escape  From  the  Macon  Jail  in 
Broad  Day. 

In  the  jail  I  was  put  in  the  northwest  room  fac- 
ed the  Main  Street  where  the  railroad  depot  was 
Our  room  was  in  the  second  story. 

The  jail  was  a  two  story  brick  building  on  the 
east  side  of  the  street. 

I  found  I  was  in  the  same  room  I  had  been  in  be- 
fore but  there  was  what  I  would  call  seven  or  eight 
tramps  in  the  same  cell. 

I  think  some  of  'them  were  confederates  and  some 
of  them  probably  from  the  union  lines.  They  were 
very  friendly  to  ma  I  told  them  my  little  stories, 
and  they  thought  I  was  quite  a  fellow. 

In  the  afternoon  we  had  a  new  arrival.  He  was 
a  union  prisoner.  He  carried  out  a  dead  man  and 
laid  him  down  among  the  dead  in  the  dead  house 
at  Andersonville  and  after  dark  made  his  escape. 

The  boys  told  him  I  was  also  an  escaped  prisoner. 
He  told  me  he  belonged  to  the  second  Wisconsin 
cavalry  and  he  seemed  about  crazy  to  make  his  es- 
cape again. 

'The  tramps,  as  I  called  them  were  all  ready  to 
make  a  break;  so  they  said  they  were  all  readier 

[110] 


Adventufes  of  Tom  Mincts. 


than  the  Wisconsin  boy  or  I  was  and  they  talked 
of  breaking  jail. 

I  kept  my  own  council  on  this  matter;  from  my 
two  former  escapes  I  made  up  my  mind  that  a  per- 
son could  do  much  better  alone  than  with  otihers. 

The  Wisconsin  boy  was  red  hot  for  escape,  but 
seemed  to  have  no  faith  in  the  tramps  trying  to  ge't 
away.  He  worked  on  me  for  all  he  could  to  make 
the  attempt  if  'there  was  any  show. 

I  was  simple  enough  to  think  the  tramps  would 
make  a  break  for  freedom  if  they  had  a  chance. 

The  morning  of  June  17th  came  and  it  was  rain- 
ing hard.  This  was  the  day  for  me  and  the  Wis- 
consin boy  to  go  to  Andersonville  but  through  a 
mistake  two  other  prisoners  were  sent  that  morn- 
ing. 

We  were  with  the  tramps  and  the  Wisconsin  boy 
asked  me  if  I  would  try  to  get  away  that  day.  I 
told  him  I  would  and  he  seemed  happy.  The  other 
man  in  our  cell  said  they  would  all  back  us  and  I 
believed  tlhem;  and  when  the  question  came  up  as 
to  who  would  make  the  first  break,  I  volunteered  the 
first  thing,  for  I  had  thought)  the  matter  over  fully 
and  decided  that  the  firslt  man  to  make  the  break 
would  get  away,  for  the  jailer  would  not  run  after 
him  and  let  the  others  escape. 

The  rain  continued  all  day.  This  is  one  reason 
why  I  consented  to  make  my  escape.  A  person 
running  through  the  streetis  while  it  rained  would 

[in] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


not  be  noticed,  and  people  would  think  it  was  on 
account  of  the  rain. 

We  decided  in  the  morning  that  we  would  make 
our  attempt  to  escape;  and  through  the  day  I  pick- 
ed my  route  from  a  map  someone  had.  I  studied  all 
I  could  for  I  was  fully  determined  to  go,  if  tfnere 
was  any  show. 

We  drew  rations  twice  a  day  at  this  jail;  at  9 
a.  m.  and  at  4  p.  m. 

In  the  afternoon  I  was  sitting  in  the  north 
window,  listening  to  some  kind  of  a  machine  that 
was  used  by  the  jailer,  which  was  used  to  whip  the 
negroes  who  were  brought  there  to  be  punishecj. 

One  man  had  brought  a  negro  girl  to  be  punished 
and  I  could  hear  the  machine  slapping  like  loose 
belts.  The  girl  was  sobbing  as  they  came  under 
the  window  I  was  sitting  in.  The  master  said : 

"You  will  sauce  me  again,  will  you?" 

I  was  thinking  of  slavery  and  ithe  way  -the  people 
of  the  South  have  of  punishing  those  who  are  not 
easily  managed. 

When  I  looked  around  and  saw  that  the  colored 
man  had  brought  up  the  rations  and  also  the  slop 
buckets.  It  seemed  they  had  all  forgotten  the  es- 
cape we  were  to  try. 

I  jumped  down  from  the  window  sill  and  told 
the  boys  to  keep  the  colored  man  in  talk  for  a  while. 

At  the  door  of  the  cell  was    Mr.  Anderson,  the 

[112] 


Battle  of  Cedar  Creek. 


See  Appendix. 


Fall   of   Petersburg. 


See  Appendix. 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


jailer ;  and  I  crowded  through  the  others,  who  were 
at  the  door  talking  to. him. 

I  spoke  to  him  and  said  it  was  a  very  nice  day  and 
talked  to  him  about  anything  I  could ;  but  did  not 
give  much  attention  to  his  answers  for  I  decided 
to  attempt  to  escape. 

He  had  a  little  black  and  tan  dog  with  him  and  I 
remarked  what  a  nice  dog  it  was.  I  asked  what 
kind  of  dog  he  was.  He  told  me  and  I  said : 

"He  is  a  handsome  little  dog." 

TMs  seemed  to  please  him  and  he  looked  down  at 
the  dog;  as  he  did  so  I  pushed  him  back  from  the 
door  and  ran  to  the  top  of  the  stairs  which  turned 
to  the  right  and  ran  down,  taking  a  number  of  steps 
at  each  jump. 

I  expected  to  tumble  down,  I  went  at  such  a 
speed.  When  part  wray  down,  I  heard  a  scuffle 
where  I  had  left  and  I  partly  stopped  and  looked 
around  long  enough  to  see  the  Wisconsin  boy  and 
the  jailer  in  a  scuffle. 

As  I  looked,  he  hit  the  jailer  with  his  fist  and  said, 
as  he  made  a  dive  for  the  stairs : 

"You  old  cuss,  you  have  not  got  me  yet." 

I  did  not  wait  to  catch  ary  more;  but  heard  the 
scuffling  toward  the  cell  and  I  thought  that  the 
Wisconsin  boy  did  not  get  away. 

On  reaching  the  bottom  of  the  stairs  there  was  a 
room  to  the  right,  known  as  the  jailer's  office;  and 

[113] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


sometimes  there  was  someone  there,  but  luckily  for 
me  there  was  no  one. 

The  front  door  of  (the  jail  was  open  and  I  went 
for  the  door  in  the  high  closed  fence  in  front  of  the 
jail  and  found  it  locked. 

I  then  ran  to  the  north  side  and  back  of  the  jail 
and  went  through  a  gate  that  led  into  (the  rear  of 
the  jailer's  yard,  for  his  house  was  along  side  of  the 
jail ;  and  I  knew  the  gate  from  the  jail  yard. 

His  was  usually  open  as  we  could  see  from  our 
cell. 

I  was  of  course  greatly  excited  and  went  'as  fast 
as  I  could. 

I  had  hardly  gone  through  the  gate  when  I  ran 
against  a  large  colored  woman  who  was  carrying 
some  things  from  her  quarters  to  the  other  house. 

After  running  nearly  across  the  yard  I  looked 
around  and  saw  that  I  had  knocked  her  down ;  and 
I  came  within  an  inch  of  knocking  myself  down  by 
the  clothes  line,  which  hit  me  on  the  neck  when  I 
looked  around  as  I  keplt  going. 

If  I  had  not  seen  the  line  as  quickly  as  I  did  I 
would  probably  have  been  recaptured. 

I  reached  the  other  side  of  the  jailer's  yard  and 
had  some  trouble  with  the  little  gate  that  led  out 
to  the  lane,  which  seemed  to  be  used  for  driving 
cows  and  horses  up  to  get  to  the  barns  and  stables. 
As  the  fence  was  low  I  jumped  it,  being  too  excited 
to  get  the  latch  to  work  on  the  galte. 

[114] 


Adventures  of  Torn  Hinds. 


I  ran  through  the  back  lanes  until  I  reached  one 
of  'the  large  street,  which  was  used  mostly  for  resi- 
dences; and  as  it  rained  all  the  time,  I  ran  as  fast 
as  I  could.  As  it  was  not  far  from  four  or  half  past 
four,  I  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  I  came  on  the 
street  the  depot  and  jail  were  on  and  saw  a  great 
many  people  going  to  the  depot.  I  thought  I  would 
go  there,  which  I  did. 

There  was  perhaps  1500  or  2000  people  in  and 
around  'the  depot.  I  mingled  among  them  and  look- 
ed as  much  like  a  rebel  as  any  one  of  them. 

While  there  I  saw  the  rebel,  Gen.  Winder  who 
was  on  Ihis  way  to  Andersonville  to  take  charge  of 
the  prisoners. 

I  ventured  to  the  front  of  the  depot  and  looked 
up  toward  the  jail  to  see  if  tlhere  was  any  stir,  but 
everything  looked  quite. 

The  jail  was  not  over  500  or  600  yards  from  the 
depot  at  the  fartheist, 

As  the  train  went  out  and  the  people  scattered,  I 
knew  it  would  not  be  a  safe  place  for  me  to  stay; 
so  I  went  southwest  from  the  jail ;  in  the  outskirts 
I  saw  a  grove  of  small  trees.  I  noticed  paths 
through  the  grove  in  a  number  of  directions. 

After  entering  the  grove  I  climbed  a  tree  and  de- 
cided to  stay  there  until  dusk.  While  there  I  saw 
a  number  of  people  passing  through,  but  none  of 
them  could  see  me. 

The  railroad  shops  were  on  the  other  side  of  the 

[115] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


grove  and  it  was  but  a  short  ways.  As  soon  as  it 
was  dark  I  came  down  and  started  down  the  track 
toward  Atlanta. 

I  had  not  gone  more  than  two  miles  when  I  wt& 
halted  by  a  guard.  I  told  him  I  had  been  to  Macon 
on  a  pass  and  was  just  g^ing  back  to  camp.  He 
asked  me  for  the  pass  and  I  s'aid  I  had  lost  it,  and 
he  said : 

"All  right." 

I  passed  on  and  after  going  a  lititle  toward  camp 
to  the  left,  I  came  back  on  the  railroad  and  continu- 
ed my  tramp. 

I  never  found  worse  walking,  for  between  the 
ties  was  a  soft  mud,  in  which  you  would  slip  back 
instead  of  forward.  It  rained  all  day  and  night 
until  near  morning. 

I  was  'taken  with  a  very  bad  chill  and  lay  down 
until  it  was  over. 

Not  having  had  any  food  since  the  day  before,  at 
nine  in  the  morning,  I  was  pretty  well  used  up  and 
thought  I  would  look  for  something  to  eat. 

I  started  toward  some  darkies'  hute  and  crawled 
along  within  a  stone's  throw7  of  some  of  them;  but 
could  not  see  any  one.  I  could  not  call  without 
attracting  the  attention  of  a  number,  so  I  started 
back  to  the  woods,  as  the  fields  were  a  lake  of  mud. 

There  was  none  of  the  darkies  at  work  outside. 

I  wandered  through  the  woods  and  heard  some 
one  chopping ;  and  going  towards  them,  I  met  two 

[116] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


darkies  and  (they  told  me  they  were  going  home  to 
dinner.  I  told  them  who  I  was,  and  in  what  bad 
shape  I  was  in  and  that  I  would  like  a  place  to  stop 
at  until  night  and  would  like  a  little  sleep. 

They  brought  me  half  a  mile  to  where  there  was 
an  old  couple,  a  man  and  his  wife,  who  had  grown 
too  old  ;to  work  and  they  were  given  a  place  by  tfhem- 
selves  and  furnished  food. 

They  had  a  comfortable  house;  and  after  I  was 
there  for  about  an  hour,  a  number  of  colored  women 
came  and  brought  me  as  good  a  dinner  as  any  one 
could  wish  for. 

They  gave  me  dry  clothes  to  put  on  and  washed 
and  dried  my  own. 

My  feet  were  badly  swollen.  They  would  not  let 
me  bathe  them,  but  did  it  for  me. 

I  then  went  to  bed  and  told  tihem  to  awake  me  up 
as  soon  as  it  was  dark  and  I  would  start  towards 
our  lines. 

I  slept  very  soundly  and  was  not  awakened  until 
about  8  o'clock. 

I  found  that  I  could  hardly  walk ;  all  my  clothes 
were  washed  and  dried.  I  put  them  on  and  went 
into  the  front  room. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  at  least  twenty  people. 
The  table  was  set  with  everything  that  could  be 
wished  for. 

Owing,  to  my  condition  they  asked  me  not  to  at- 
tempt to  go  but  to  stay  over  until  I  felt  better. 

[117] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


They  thought  t!he  safes*  place  for  me  was  over 
near  the  white  people's  house,  where  some  of  the 
women  wrere  servants  at  the  big  house  and  did  not 
occupy  their  cabins  much  only  at  night. 

I  went  with  them  and  sltaid  most  of  the  time  witTn 
Mrs.  Turner. 

I  found  I  was  on  Dr.  Winn's  plantation,  near 
Crawford  station,  about  fifteen  miles  from  Macon, 
towards  Atlanta. 

They  gave  me  a  white  shirt,  linen  pants  and  slip- 
pers that  belonged  to  the  master,  to  wear  while  I 
was  there;  and  I  had  just  as  good  food  as  they  had 
at  the  big  house,  for  the  same  cook  and  servants 
that  furnished  them  gave  it  to  me. 

Dr.  Winn  was  not  living,  but  there  were  two  sons, 
one  about  30  and  the  other  18  and  a  daughter  23 
years  of  age. 

From  what  the  slaves  told  me  they  had  a  good 
master  who  used  them  well. 

I  found  among  them  a  number  who  could  read 
and  write,  which  was  not  the  case  on  most  of  the 
otiher  plantations. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday ;  and  there  was  a  color- 
ed woman  who  came  from  Macon  that  told  me  about 
the  jail  breaking ;  she  said  that  there  were  two 
Yankees  in  the  jail  and  one  of  them  threw  the  jailer 
(Mr.  Anderson)  over  the  rail  down  the  stairs  and 
broke  his  neck.  This  was  news  tlhat  made  me  feel 
very  uneasy,  until  they  brought  me  a  paper  from 

[118] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


the  big  house.  They  published  the  "Telegram  & 
Confederate"  at  Macon  on  Tuesday,  June  21st. 

I  saw  the  paper  which  gave  'an  account  of  the 
matter.  It  was  headed  "Homicide." 

It  described  the  escape  of  two  Yankees ;  one:  had 
made  good  Ms  escape  and  nothing  had  been  heard 
of  him  since.  The  other  one  Mr.  Anderson  secur- 
ed and  he  was  sent  to  Millidgville  (the  capital 
then)  in  chains. 

It  stated  that  Mr.  Anderson  after  securing  the 
prisoner,  complained  of  not  feeling  well,  took  some 
medicine  and  went1  to  bed  and  died  in  a  few  hours. 

I  think  it  was  about  four  hours  after  going  to 
bed. 

The  article  spoke  very  highly  of  him  and  of  his 
faithfulness,  etc. 

My  own  opinion  was  tihat  Mr.  Anderson,  being  a 
stout  man  and  perhaps  fifty  years  of  age  or  more, 
may  have  had  heart  trouble  and  the  excitement 
might  have  been  the  cause  of  his  death. 

This  news  made  me  cautious  and  I  staid  on  the 
plantation  for  a  whole  week. 

I  lived  like  a  gentleman  and  had  to  scold  them 
for  wanting  to  stand  and  keep  the  flies  off  of  me 
while  I  was  eating. 

While  here  I  was  invited  to  watch  the  white  Mis- 
sus as  she  passed  near  by.  One  of  the  colored 
women  said,  "Isnt  she  pretty?" 

[119] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


While  in  the  back  room  one  day  the  young  master 
came  into  the  front  part  of  the  house. 

The  door  was  open  between  the  rooms  and  I  was 
sure  that  I  would  be  discovered.  One  of  the  women 
who  was  visiting  me  at  the  time  'told  me  to  sit  still ; 
that  he  never  came  into  tJh'at  part  of  'the  house.  I 
was  sitting  near  the  bed,  so  I  just  got  in  and  rolled 
back  to  the  wall.  He  could  see  into  the  room  but 
could  not  see  ma 

This  was  a  narrow  escape  from  discovery. 

While  on  'the  plantation,  there  was  a  negro  black- 
smith, who  took  me  out  nearly  every  evening  to  see 
the  darkies  dance  and  sing. 

Before  bringing  me  to  where  they  were,  he  took 
the  precaution  to  see  if  there  were  any  strange 
darkies  from  other  plantations. 

This  man  gave  me  a  spring  knife,  about  five  in- 
ches long,  and  as  sharp  as  a  razor.  He  also  gave  me 
whalt  is  called  an  overseer's  cane  or  stick.  It  was 
made  of  oak  and  had  a,  lump  of  lead  in  one  end. 

I  considered  that  I  was  well  equipped  for  almost 
anything. 

There  was  one  old  man,  perhaps  80  or  90  years, 
who  used  to  visit  me  quite  often.  He  told  me  all 
about  his  running  away  and  being  caught  with  the 
dogs;  at  one  time  when  he  was  running  away  and 
the  dogs  were  after  him,  he  took  off  his  shoes  and 
cut  a  big  inion  (as  he  called  it),  put  it  in  his  shoes 

[120] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


to  change  the  scent  so  the  dogs  would  miss  him,  and 
he  said : 

"It  made  dem  a  damn  si'te  worse  ." 

This  old  man  had  lived  in  nearly  every  part  of 
Georgia.  I  found  him  very  interesting  with  his 
stories  and  his  escapes.  They  called  him  Uncle 
Jake. 

While  here  I  had  a  number  of  colored  visitors 
every  day;  also  some  books  to  read  and  sometimes 
some  Macon  papers. 

Among  the  books  I  found  a  large  geography,  con- 
taining a  map  of  the  state,  which  I  cut  out  and  had 
sewn  in  an  inside  pocket  in  my  drawers.  I  folded 
the  map  in  four  thicknesses  and  when  in  the  pocket 
would  never  have  been  found. 

I  also  had  a  pocket  made  in  the  leg  of  my  pants 
in  which  'to  put  the  knife,  so  in  case  of  standing  up 
to  be  searched  it  would  not  be  discovered. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-TWO. 

Tom  Tries  to  Disguise  Himself  as  a  Negro  Girl  but 
Gives  Up  the  Attempt. 

We  talked  of  a  number  of  ways  for  making  my  es- 
cape; such  as  disguising  myself  as  a  darkey;  also 
as  a  colored  girl. 

The  latter  we  decided  the  best  plan.  I  tried  on 
a  young  woman's  dress,  a  course  cotton  dress.  I 
changed  my  mind  about  the  kind  of  disguise.  The 
young  woman  was  just  about  my  size,  but  the  dress 
would  not  go  around  me  within  several  inches. 

The  woman  wanted  to  make  me  a  dress  to  fit,  but 
I  thought  a  dress  would  hinder  me  in  running  if  I 
was  obliged  to.  They  also  offered  to  make  me  a 
new  suit,  way  through,  but  I  thought  the  one  I  got 
near  Andersonville  was  as  good  as  any  I  needed 
for  it  was  strong  and  fitted  quite  well. 

All  the  darkies  used  me  as  well  and  took  as  much 
interest  in  me  as  though  I  belonged  to  them. 

I  certainly  enjoyed  myself  at  this  place  for  I  had 
the  best*  the  plantation  afforded ;  and  with  a  white 
linen  shirt,  linen  pants  and  slippers  on,  I  felt  quite 
content. 

I  likely  would  have  staid  there  longer,  for  a  week 

[  122  ] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


or  so,  but  for  the  fact  of  Hood's  army  falling  back 
from  in  front  of  Sherman. 

I  learned  that  there  were  a  number  of  them  camp- 
ed about  four  miles  from  the  plantation,  at  which 
I  was  and  on  two  occasions  some  of  them  came  to 
the  plantation,  after  straw  and  other  things  they 
needed. 

I  knew  how  soldiers  were  and  they  would  look  in 
all  the  cabins  and  elsewhere  to  get  plunder,  so  I 
thoug'hti  I  would  leave  as  soon  as  possible. 

I  left  on  Saturday  night,  June  25th.  The  negroes 
offered  me  money  or  anything  else  I  wished.  There 
were  from  thirty  to  forty  of  them,  men,  women  and 
children,  and  they  all  came  to  the  railroad  track 
with  me,  so  I  had  a  good  send  off  and  lots  of  good 
wishes  for  my  successful  escape  to  our  lines. 

I  also  had  a  haversack  loaded  with  turkey  and 
other  good  things  to  eat. 

I  took  the  railroad  track  toward  ForsytJh,  a  sta- 
tion toward  Atlanta,  about  ten  miles  away. 

The  night  was  very  dark ;  so  dark  that  you  could 
not  see  any  one.  When  a  few  miles  on  the  track, 
I  had  a  narrow  escape  from  capture,  I  heard  some 
one  walking  toward  me  and  just  had  time  to  step 
a  little  to  the  right,  when  I  met  four  soldiers  patrol- 
ing  the  track. 

We  almost  walked  into  each  other  and  as  they 
passed  they  were  near  enough)  to  rub  against  me. 


[  123  ] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


They  were  in  between  the  rails  and  I  had  just 
stepped  to  the  right,  enough  to  clear  them. 

I  stood  still  as  they  passed ;  did  not  have  time  to 
stoop  down  even.  I  suppose  they  did  not  expect 
there  was  any  one  within  miles  of  them. 

I  followed  the  railroad  track  to  Forsyth.  After 
reaching  there,  it  being  about  midnight,  I  went  di- 
rectly north,  my  object  being  to  go  far  enough  north 
to  flank  the  extreme  right  of  the  rebel  army;  and 
also  to  continue  past  Sherman's  left  wing,  for  I 
knew  the  difficulties  of  going  through  the  rebel 
lines,  especially  when  both  armies  were  in  active 
operation.  I  did  not  suffer  as  badly  on  this  trip 
as  on  the  others,  except  for  food  during  tlhe  last  part 
of  my  journey. 

I  had  recruited  up  in  good  shape  at  Winn's  plan- 
'tation  and  was  in  the  best  of  shape  for  a  trip. 

I  had  enough  food  to  last  me  a  week,  but  I  think 
it  lasted  me  about  three  days. 

I  found  this  trip  much  pleasanter  than  the  others, 
for  the  weather  was  fine,  witih  the  exception  of  a 
few  days.  I  did  considerable  travelling  at  night 
and  slept  through  the  day. 

I  had  one  experience  during  this  trip  I  can  never 
forget  It  was  after  a  rain  and  hearing  dogs  bark- 
ing the  other  side  of  a  bridge  which  I  was  about  to 
cross,  I  turned  to  the  left  to  see  if  I  could  find  a 
place  to  cross  the  stream.  As  'the  walking  was 
rough  along  tihe  side  of  the  stream,  I  went  up  quite 

[124] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


a  rise  of  ground,  clear  of  trees  and  rocks.  I  had  not 
gone  far  when  I  stepped  into  a  ditch  which  had 
been  made  by  the  rain  and  it  being  red  clay  I  went 
down  40  or  50  feet  into  the  stream,  among  the  rocks, 
so  quickly  that  I  did  not  know  what  had  happened. 
Luckily  I  was  not  hurt  much  and  had  got  out  half 
way  up  the  bank  when.  I  stepped  into  another 
gulley  and  had  another  slide,  but  not  so  far  as  the 
first  one.  I  realized  the  danger  of  trying  to  travel 
under  such  conditions  and  going  up  on  the  hill  I 
laid  down  under  a  tree  until  morning. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-THREE. 

Commanded  to  Halt — He  Disobeys  the  Order  and 
Escapes  Through  a  Briar  Patch. 

The  map  of  the  state  of  Georgia  helped  me  very 
much,  with  what  information  I  gathered  from  the 
colored  people;  but  there  were  a  number  of  places 
on  the  map  which  the  names  had  been  changed 
years  before  and  I  had  some  trouble  in  keeping  in 
the  right  course.  Some  of  the  older  people  would 
remember  the  old  names. 

I  could  see  Stone  Mountain  for  tlhree  days.  Stone 
Mountain  is  on  the  Augusta  and  Atlanta  railroad, 
about  20  miles  north  of  Atlanta. 

I  passed  through  Covington,  which  is  quite  a  fac- 
tory place,  on  the  Augusta  and  Atlanta  railroad.  I 
passed  through  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning ; 
the  mills  were  running  day  and  night,  I  presume  on 
cloth  for  the  rebel  army. 

I  lost  no  time  in  getting  as  far  away  as  possible 
and  did  not  meet  anyone  tihat  I  was  afraid  of  being 
captured  by. 

I  was  very  conceited  about  being  able  to  make  my 
escape  from  any  ordinary  building  they  might  con- 
fine me  in. 

[126] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


I  thought  if  the  knife  was  not  found  on  me,  it 
would  leave  me  in  shape  to  cut  my  way  out  of  any 
ordinary  building. 

The  3rd  of  July,  as  I  remember,  was  on  Sunday 
and  I  think  I  never  remember  a  warmer  day. 

I  could  see  Stone  Mountain  very  plainly  and  felt 
as  if  I  would  like  to  get  on  top  of  it  to  see  if  I  could 
see  the  Union  lines. 

I  laid  in  the  shade  of  the  woods  all  day  and 
watched  the  little  lizards  playing  around  where  I 
laid. 

I  became  so  used  to  them  that  I  liked  to  see  tihem ; 
at  first  I  was  afraid  of  them. 

One  morning  while  along  the  river  bottom  look- 
ing for  a  boat,  I  heard  a  rattle  snake,  but  could  not 
see  it.  I  was  in  a  patch  of  cane  brake  that  was  ten 
or  twelve  feet  high,  I  heard  the  same  noise  again 
and  in  front  of  me  about  five  feet  was  a  rattler  all 
coiled  up  on  a  dead  log,  ready  to  strike. 

I  got  out  of  there  as  quickly  as  possible  and  made 
good  time  for  quite  a  distance. 

I  had  always  been  timid  of  snakes  and  always 
gave  Itihem  a  wide  berth. 

Towards  evening,  I  pushed  along,  and  before 
dark  I  passed  to  tine  left,  or  south  of  Lawrenceville, 
where  I  saw  from  the  elevation  I  was  on  a  large 
number  of  horses  and  learned  they  were  horses  sent 
out  here  to  recruit  up;  there  were  also  some  rebel 
cavalry  in  the  place. 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


As  I  had  nothing  to  eat  this  day  I  thought  I 
would  try  and  get  near  the  negro  cabins.  I  saw  in 
a  grove  nearby  a  large  white  house;  near  the  house 
was  a  cavalry  horse,  saddled  and  tied  and  I  presume 
some  officer  was  visiting  the  white  people. 

Near  dusk  I  got  into  the  grove  near  the  cabins 
and  could  see  liie  darkies  visiting  back  and  forth 
and  having  a  good  time  apparently;  but  I  waited 
a  long  time  before  seeing  one  alone.  I  saw  one  com- 
ing out  of  the  nearest  cabin  to  me  and  whistled  to 
call  his  attention.  He  looked  toward  me  and  I 
beckoned  him  to  come,  at  the  same  time  standing 
behind  a  tree.  He  came  toward  me  and  stooped, 
picking  up  some  stones  and  throwing  them  at  me 
he  said: 

"You  can't  fool  this  child,  I  knows  who  you  is." 

I  had  to  keep  behind  the  tree  and  dare  not  show 
myself,  so  he  kept  throwing,  thinking  I  was  one  of 
the  darkies  trying  to  play  a  trick  on  him.  He  kept 
coming  closer  as  he  threw  the  stones  and  when  near 
enough  to  talk  to  him,  I  stepped  from  behind  the 
tree  and  told  him  I  wanted  to  speak  to  him. 

As  soon  as  he  saw  me  he  hardly  knew  what  to  do 
and  said,  as  he  dropped  the  stones. 

"Good  Laws,  a  white  man."  He  began  trembling. 
I  presume  he  never  undertook  to  throw  stones  at  a 
white  man  before.  I  told  who  was  and  that  I  was 
hungry.  He  went  away  and  brought  me  some  corn 
bread  and  bacon. 

[  128  ] 


Battle  of  Chancellorsville. 


See  Appendix. 


See  Appendix. 


Battle   of    Bull    Run. 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


This  was  all  tihe  food  I  had  until  the  following 
Tuesday  afternoon,  July  6th. 

After  I  crossed  the  Chatahooche  river  I  started 
toward  Warsaw,  by  my  map,  and  travelled  nearly 
the  whole  night. 

About  daybreak  I  came  across  a  number  of  horses 
in  the  road  and  in  front  of  a  large  house  on  my 
righ't,  there  were  some  men  watering  the  horses;  as 
tfhe  men  I  suppose  had  just  woke  up  a  little  before, 
they  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  me. 

I  bade  "Good  morning"  to  some  that  did  notice 
me  and  kept  right  on,  not  forgetting  to  limp  every 
step.  I  went  on  pretending  to  give  no  attention  to 
them  and  after  passing  the  watering  trough,  per- 
haps five  or  six  hundred  yards,  I  heard  some  one  in 
the  field  to  the  right  and  quite  a  ways  from  the  road 
call,  "Halt!" 

I  looked  around  and  noticed  two  cavalry  men 
back  of  me,  but  kept  right  on,  for  a  little  below  was 
a  bridge  and  the  other  side  a  wood,  and  I  knew  that 
unless  they  reached  me  with  a  ball  I  could  reach 
the  woods  ahead  of  them ;  so  I  limped  along  giving 
no  notice  to  the  halt !  After  crossing  the  bridge,  I 
turned  sharp  to  the  left  from  the  road  for  the  road 
bore  to  the  right,  and  going  quite  a  distance  I  cross- 
ed a  fence  and  wrent  to  a  little  brook  to  have  a  wash. 
I  took  off  my  coat  and  washed  my  hands  and  face 
and  had  hardly  finished  when  I  thought  I  heard 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


voices.  I  put  on  my  coat  Just  then  I  heard  a 
may  say : 

"There  is  the  damn  spy;  go  for  Mm." 

There  was  no  time  to  think  and  I  started  as  fast 
as  I  could  run  up  into  a  lot  that  was  rather  hilly 
and  scrub  pines  and,  bushes. 

I  kept  as  much  in  the  shade  of  those  trees  as  I 
could,  so  they  could  only  see  me  part  of  the  time. 

I  made  the  best  time  I  could,  but  realized  that 
some  of  the  rebels  were  gaining  on  me  fast,  and  I 
felt  sure  'that  they  would  eventually  overtake  me  or 
get  a  shot  at  ma 

I  was  just  thinking  that  I  had  better  give  up  the 
race  when  I  noticed  to  the  right  of  me  a  field  that 
looked  like  a  black  berry  patch. 

I  expected  to  be  shot  while  crossing  the  fence; 
but  they  did  not  take  time  to  fire  and  I  was  hardly 
in  the  busies  good,  when  some  of  the  leaders  were 
not  twenty  yards  behind.  I  plunged  into  the  bushes 
regardless  of  thorns. 

I  felt  that  those  fellows  would  not  be  willing  to 
tear  themselves  as  bad  as  I  would  and  had  not  got 
half  way  through  when  I  found  I  was  away  ahead 
of  them. 

On  the  other  side  of  tihe  black  berry  patch  was  a 
woods  of  large  trees  and  'the  berry  bushes  were  so 
high  and  thick  that  they  lost  sight  of  me  as  soon 
as  I  reached  the  woods. 

There  being  no  grass  on  ttie  ground  to  tra.ck  me, 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


I  went  sharp  to  the  left.  I  ran  toward  the  road 
where  they  could  notice  my  track  in  the  grass  by 
the  dew.  I  laid  down  in  the  woods  and  could  hear 
them  shouting  away  ahead  of  me  through  the 
woods. 

This  race  in  some  respects  was  the  roughest  one 
I  had  yet,  for  the  briars  scratched  me  badly. 

It  was  lucky  for  me  there  were  no  blood  hounds. 

I  heard  the  booming  of  the  cannon  to  'the  south, 
which  put  new  life  in  me,  for  I  knew  it  was  our 
army  pushing  on  toward  Atlanta. 

I  afterward  learned  that  the  fighting  I  heard  was 
at  Indian  Springs  by  Gen.  Stoneman  of  our  cavalry. 
I  never  was  so  happy  as  that  4th  of  July  morning 
after  getting  away  and  hearing  our  guns:  again.  I 
felt  that  I  would  soon  be  in  Union  lines.  After  a 
good  rest  I  started  again  and  kept  in  the  woods 
all  the  time.  While  travelling  along  where  there 
was  a  fork  in  tihe  road  in  the  woods,  I  met  a  young 
white  girl  who  was  barefoot,  she  had  a  hoe  in  her 
hand  and  seemed  terribly  frightened  and  on  asking 
her  which  road  led  to  the  river  she  pointed  to  the 
left  hand.  I  went  on  bu't  took  the  other  road  so>  if 
she  met  anyone  she  would  put  them  on  the  wrong 
track,  but  I  afterward  took  the  road  that  led  to  the 
river  and  soon  found  a  clearing. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-FOUR.. 

Asks  for  Aid  and  Is  Shot  at — Swims  the  River  With 

Snake  Companions. 

I  was  very  hungry,  not  having  had  any  food  since 
the  evening  before. 

I  kept  close  along  the  fences  to  get  near  a  house, 
hoping  to  see  some  one  that  might  bring  me  food ; 
but  failed  to  see  any  one. 

I  then  followed  a  straight  road  through  the 
woods;  nearing  dusk,  I  looked  back  and  saw  what 
appeared  to  be  a  giant,  right  back  of  me. 

I  started  down  a  path  tlhat  led  to  the  Chatahooche 
river  and  as  I  neared  I  heard  voices. 

I  followed  down  to  the  bank,  but  it  being  so  dark 
I  could  not  see  any  one,  or  even  the  opposite  bank. 

I  called,  asking  who  was  there,  saying  I  wanted 
to  cross  the  river. 

The  only  answer  I  got  was  a  shot  from  the  other 
side. 

I  left  at  once,  for  I  thought  it  was  not  very  safe 
to  hold  a  conversation  with  the  one  who  did  the 
shooting. 

I  knew  that  there  was  a  ferry  below,  but  I  did 
not  dare  go  there,  for  the  people  were  all  going  to 
the  interior,  to  get  away  from  Sherman's  army ;  and 
the  ferry  I  afterwards  learned  was  busy  day  a,nd 
night. 

[132] 


Adventures  of  Torn  Hinds. 


I  turned  back,  and  after  going  quite  a  distance 
from  the  river,  I  came  across  some  square  limbers, 
on  horses,  near  an  old  ruin. 

I  laid  on  them  all  night  and  early  in  the  morn- 
ing I  went  along  the  edge  of  the  river,  looking  for 
an  opening  to  get  to  the  bank,  for  I  thought  of  swim- 
ming across. 

I  never  saw  as  wild  a  looking  place  in  aJl  my 
travels,  as  along  that  part  of  the  river.  The  vines 
were  so  thick  that  I  do  not  'think  you  could  see  four 
feet  through  them,  and  with  the  use  of  a  large  knife 
I  managed  to  get  through  to  the  water. 

Before  this  I  had  gone  back  a  distance,  in  search 
of  a  fence  rail,  to  use  in  swimming,  but  failed  to 
find  one.  I  noticed  the  bank  I  was  on  was  very  low, 
while  the  opposite  was  high.  The  current  was  swift 
and  the  bank  and  river  bottom,  as  far  as  I  could 
see,  was  of  dark  soft  mud  and  one  could  not  wade 
out  over  a  couple  of  feet,  when  it  was  very  deep. 

I  found  an  old  water  soaked  root,  with  two 
prongs  on  it.  I  undressed  and  tied  a  stick  across 
the  crutch  of  the  old  root  and  tore  the  drawers  I 
had  in  strips  and  tied  my  clothes  on.  If  I  lost  my 
clothes  I  would  be  in  a  bad  fix.  I  secured  everything 
the  best  I  could.  I  tied  my  shoes  together. 

I  pushed  from  shore.  With  one  hand  I  held  the 
clothes  and  used  the  other  to  swim  with.  I  found 
the  old  root  so  wet  that  it  would  sink  if  I  did  not 
hold  it  up.  It  was  very  like  swimming  with  a  per- 
son you  were  trying  to  save. 

[133] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


I  found  that  I  was  in  trouble  right  off,  and  had 
to  swim  floating  down  the  stream,  to  get  to  the  other 
side;  but  I  had  more  trouble  ahead  that  I  had  not 
looked  for. 

I  had  hardly  reached  half  the  way  across!  when 
I  saw  a  number  of  water  snakes  sailing  along  the 
other  shore. 

I  hardly  knew  what  to  do,  but  concluded  I  would 
have  to  lose  my  clothes  if  they  came  for  me;  and  as 
my  progress  was  slow,  I  nerved  myself  the  best  I 
could  to  go  ahead. 

None  of  the  snakes  came  toward  me,  but  went 
down  the  stream ;  so  I  made  a  great  effort  to  reach 
the  opposite  shore  without  floating  down  any  fur- 
ther. 

I  kept  watch  of  the  snakes  and  saw  that  they  kept 
away  from  me. 

Beaching  the  opposite  side  I  found  the  water  too 
deep  KK>  stand  in  and  I  could  not  land,  except  by  let- 
ting the  root  and  clothes  go. 

I  tried  a  number  of  places.  Finding  no  shallow 
water,  I  finally  caught  some  bushes  and  hung  onto 
them  with  one  hand  and  the  clothed  with  the  other 
until  I  got  a  little  rest. 

After  a  great  struggle  I  got  hold  of  a  bush  a  little 
higher  up  the  bank  and  succeeded  in  getting  a  foot- 
hold in  the  mud.  I  pulled  the  clothes  and  old 
stump  out. 


[134] 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-FIVE. 

Tom  Meets  Some  Friends  in  the  South  Who  Help 
Him  Back  to  the  Union  Lines. 

I  was  completely  tired  out  and  would  have  to  let 
my  clothes  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  river  in  a  very 
short  time.  If  I  thought  of  it  I  might  have  tied  my 
clothes  on  my  back  and  would  not  have  had  any 
such  trouble. 

On  looking  over  my  clothes  I  found  I  had  lost 
my  cap. 

After  dressing  I  went  up  the  bank  and  discovered 
a  number  of  darkies  harvesting  wheat. 

I  was  now  almost  starved  and  I  called  a  colored 
man  nearby  and  told  him  my  wants. 

It  was  after  dinner  now.  .The  colored  man  told 
me  the  overseer  was  quite  a  Union  man  and  he 
would  tell  him  to  come  and  see  me.  He  knew  it 
would  be  all  right,  so  he  sent  for  him. 

The  overseer  I  found  was  a  Union  man  and  had 
not  yet  had  his  dinner  and  said  he  would  call  for 
me  in  a  little  while  and  I  could  have  dinner  with 
him. 

While  hiding  on  the  river  bank,  a  man  rode  in  the 
field,  who  wore  a  high  hat.  The  overseer  told  me 
it  was  Mr.  Graham  of  Kentucky,  who  was  an  old 
schoolmate  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

[135] 


Tales  of  Wat1  Times. 


I  went  with  the  overseer  to  dinner  and  they  had 
corn  bread,  green  beans  and  bacon.  The  man  seem- 
ed to  have  a  great  appetite  and  kept  my  plate  well 
loaded.  I  never  ate  so  much  before  at  once  and  he 
encouraged  me  to  eat  all  I  wanted.  The  green 
beans  wTere  something  I  had  not  tasted  for  years. 
The  big  dinner  did  not  hurt  me  a  bit  and  I  was  so 
fatigued  that  he  asked  me  to  stay  over  night,  which 
I  did. 

That  evening  the.  darkies  found  out  who  I  was 
and  they  sent  a  deputation  to  see  if  I  would  go  with, 
them  to  Union  lines  which  was  about  fifteen  miles 
away. 

I  told  them  I  was  not  able  to  go.  I  understood 
there  were  about  forty  started  and  if  I  had  been 
caught  with  them  I  would  have  been  strung  up. 
The  overseer  told  me  the  same  thing. 

After  a  good  night's  sleep  I  got  an  early  start  for 
Roswell.  Before  starting,  the  overseer  gave  me 
such  a  cap  as  he  had.  It  was  a  heavy  winter  cap, 
with  a  raised  ridge  around  the  top.  It  was  the 
only  thing  he  had  and  I  was  very  thankful  for  it. 
He  was  so  kind  to  me  and  feeling  that  I  ought  to 
give  him  something  I  made  him  a  present  of  the 
big  knife,  the  colored  blacksmith  gave  me  on  Dr. 
Wynn's  plantation.  He  was  pleased  with  it. 

I  started  for  the  Union  lines,  which  I  felt  con- 
fident of  reaching,  as  I  had  an  early  start ;  and  feel- 
ing in  good  spirits  I  made  good  time;  and  did  not 

[136] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


see  any  one  that  I  was  afraid  of  for  about  twelve 
miles.  When  near  a  double  log  house  back  from 
the  road,  three  or  four  hundred  feet,  a  tall  old  man 
called  me,  as  I  went  by,  and  asked  me  if  I  knew 
there  were  Union  soldiers  ahead  of  me. 

I  told  him  that  I  was  going  to  Huntsville,  Ala., 
and  did  not  think  they  would  trouble  me  for  I  was 
a  Union  soldier  myself. 

Then  I  told  him  who  I  was  and  about  making  my 
escape  from  prison;  and  he  insisted  on  me  having 
something  to  eat.  Although  not  hungry,  I  went  in- 
to the  house.  I  never  saw  such  a  family.  There 
were  six  grown  up  daughters,  from  perhaps  16  to 
25  years  of  age,  all  quite  tall  and  having  white  hair. 
They  were  all  fine  looking  young  ladies.  I  think 
they  worked  in  cotton  or  woolen  mills  at  Eoswell. 
They  gave  me  some  bread,  doughnuts  and  milk. 

I  had  hardly  commenced  eating  when  one  of  the 
married  daughters  came  up  the  road  from  her  house 
and  said  the  Union  soldiers  were  coming.  I  went 
out  to  the  corner  of  the  house  to  watch  through  the 
logs.  I  told  them  they  might  be  mistaken  and  want- 
ed to  make  sure  before  letting  them  see  me.  In  a 
short  time  they  came  in  sight  and  seemed  to  be  in  a 
great  'hurry.  As  they  got  near  I  saw  they  were  not 
Union  soldiers.  The  old  gentleman  and  some  of 
his  daughters  got  a  pail  of  water  and  went  out  to  the 
road  to  give  them  a  drink,  so  they  did  not  come 
near  the  house.  I  counted  twenty-nine  all  mounted. 

[137] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


They  did  not  delay  but  hurried  off  after  getting 
the  water. 

I  learned  that  they  were  not  the  regular  confeder- 
ate cavalry,  but  a  company  got  up  for  home  service; 
and  the  captain  was  a  lawyer  whose  name  was 
Courts. 

I  did  not  wait  to  finish  the  lunch,  but  bidding 
all  the  family  good  bye.  I  started  on  my  last  two 
or  three  miles. 

I  ran  part  of  the  time  and  went  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible; but  would  stop  at  times  and  lay  on  the 
ground,  Indian  fashion,  and  listen  for  the  sounds 
of  tramping  horses. 

I  was  informed  by  the  old  gentleman  that  I  might 
have  some  trouble  at  a  mill,  where  there  were  sever- 
al roads,  as  there  were  usually  a  number  of  men 
around  the  grist  mill. 

I  was  now  so  anxious  to  get  to  our  lines  quickly, 
that  I  did  not  try  tio  avoid  the  mill,  although  it 
seemed  the  proper  place  to  place  pickets  by  either 
of  the  armies. 

I  crossed  the  bridge  and  had  passed  the  mill, 
when  a  man  came  out  and  hailed  me,  saying  the 
Yankees  were  in  Koswell  and  I  would  surely  be 
taken  by  them. 

I  did  not  stop  but  kept  on  almost  at  a  run  and 
told  him  I  did  not  care  for  the  Yankees.  He  still 
called  for  me  to  come  back.  I  was  quite  worked  up 
and  decided  for  safety  to  leave  the  road  and,  if  pos- 

[138] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


sible,  avoid  our  own  pickets,  which  I  did,  although 
I  did  not  see  them  when  I  passed  them. 

On  nearing  Koswell  I  took  the  road  and  had  not 
gone  far  when  I  came  to  roads  going  into  the  vil- 
lage and  on  one  running  southwest  I  saw  a  cavalry 
horse  in  front  of  a  house ;  the  saddle  had  U.  S.  on ; 
so  I  was  sure  I  was  right. 

A  small  boy  was  holding  the  horse  and  I  asked 
him  where  the  owner  of  the  horse  was.  He  said: 

"He  is  in  the  house  with  ma." 

Just  then  a  soldier  appeared  in  the  doorway  with 
his  carbine  pointed  at  the  rebel  as  he  supposed. 

I  told  him  to  put  up  his  gun ;  I  would  not  make 
any  trouble. 

After  telling  who  I  was,  he  brought  me  to  the 
main  command  which  was  in  the  main  s'treet  of  the 
town. 

From  there  I  was  sent  to  General  Girard's  head- 
quarters, some  three  or  four  miles  away,  toward 
Marietta. 

I  started  at  once  with  a  guard,  but  was  not  given 
a  horse  to  ride,  as  I  should  have  had ;  but  I  presume 
the  officer  in  charge  thought  I  had  travelled  so  far 
I  could  do  a  few  miles  farther. 

When  I  realized  I  was  safe  in  our  lines  I  seemed 
to  tire  all  out  at  once,  when  but  a  short  time  before 
I  felt  as  if  I  could  endure  considerable  hardships 
yet. 

[139] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


My  guard  let  me  ride  his  horse  until  we  came  near 
the  general's  headquarters. 

I  buttoned  up  my  half  swallow  tailed  coat  and 
tried  to  look  as  well  as  I  could. 

The  rig  I  had  on,  with  the  double  deck  winter 
cap,  gave  me  the  appearance  of  anything  but  a 
soldier.  My  face  was  bloated  and  covered  witih  a 
fuzz  and  I  was  about  as  tough  a  looking  tramp  as 
could  be  found. 

The  general's  quarters  were  in  a  grove  to  the  left 
of  the  road,  on  a  rise  of  ground,  and  the  day  being 
very  warm,  the  staff  officers  were*  all  in  the  grove, 
in  front  of  their  tents. 

I  could  hear  a  number  of  remarks,  such  as  "Look 
at  what  is  coming;"  and  "There  is  a  hard  looking 
Johnny." 

There  was  considerable  laughing  and  comment- 
ing on  my  general  appearance. 

But  when  the  guard  called  for  the  Adj.  General 
and  told  him  I  was  an  escaped  Union  prisoner,  I 
was  welcomed  by  all  the  staff  officers ;  and  all  kinds 
of  inquiries  of  how  I  made  my  escape ;  also  the  way 
I  came,  etc. 

I  got  out  my  map  of  Georgia  and  traced  the  route 
I  took. 

The  map  was  nearly  worn  out  and  as  one  of  the 
officers  asked  me  for  it,  I  let  him  have  it. 

I  did  not  see  the  general,  as  I  remember.  I  told 
the  Adjutant  General  I  was  anxious  to  get  ba,ck  as 

[140] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


soon  as  possible  from  the  front,  for  I  did  not  want 
to  be  a  prisoner  again. 

He  said  he  expected  a  wagon  train  to  go  that 
evening  and  I  could  go  with  them.  If  tShe  train  did 
not  go  he  would  send  an  escort  -with  me  ''to  Marietta. 
He  told  me  to  make  myself  at  home  until  evening. 

I  staid  with  the  General's  body  guard  and'  to- 
wards evening,  I  did  not  hear  anything  of  the  train 
or  escort,  so  when  it  was  quiet!  dark  I  went  to  the 
Adjutant  General's  tent,  but  did  not  find  him. 

When  going  through  the  camp  and  woods  I  no- 
ticed I  was  followed  by,  a  soldier. 

On  returning  from  'the  Adjutant's  tent  he  came 
up  to  me  and  said  that  he  knew  I  was  all  right  but 
he  was  instructed  to  watch  me;  so  we  went  back,  as 
I  saw  there  was  no  show  of  getting  to  Marietta  that 
night;  and  being  very  tired  I  laid  down  on  tihe 
ground,  with  the  other  men,  and  slept  so  soundly 
that  one  of  the  men  woke  me  to  tell  me  that  there 
was  a  wagon  train  about  to  start  for  Marietta, 

I  had  scarcely  time  to  crowd  into  one  of  the 
wagons  without  a  bite  to  eat. 

I  found  the  wagons  were  full  of  rebel  prisoners 
and  I  know  they  thought  I  was  one,  too. 

After  a  rough  ride  we  arrived  at  Marietta  and 
were  brought  before  an  officer  i(h  a  building,  where 
we  all  gave  our  names,  company,  and  the  regiment 
to  which  we  belonged. 

I  hung  back  for  the  last  and  gave  my  name  and 

[141] 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


regiment,  1st  Maryland,  Union.  The  officer  was 
very  much  surprised  and  called  the  sergeant  who 
had  charge  of  the  prisoners. 

He  said  he  did  not  know  I  was  a  Union  soldier; 
still  there  was  one  more  man  than  he  had. 

The  result  was  I  was  sent  to  a  building  with  the 
others  and  kept  with  them  five  days  and  nights;  al- 
though as  every  officer  of  the  day  came  on,  I  asked 
for  my  liberty;  but  they  had  nothing  but  my  word 
for  it. 

At  last  one  officer  sent  me  with  a  guard  to  the 
commander  of  the  post,  a  colonel  whose  name  I  can- 
not remember,  and  the  next  day  I  received  my  liber- 
ty ;  but  my  trouble  was  not  ended  for  I  had  no  place 
to  stay  or  draw  rations  and  when  I  went  where  a 
lot  of  soldiers  were  getting  their  rations  on  the 
main  street,  I  went  for  mine  and  was  told  they  had 
no  rations  for  rebels;  but  some  of  the  boys  inter- 
posed for  me  and  when  they  found  who  I  was  they 
gave  me  anything  they  had. 

The  next  day  they  decided  to  ship  the  rebel  pri- 
soners to  Chatanooga;  and  the  officer  told  me  I 
could  go  with  them ;  and  he  gave  me  a  paper  to  go 
to  the  Quartermaster  at  Chatanooga  and  get  trans- 
portation to  Washington,  D.  C. 

I  took  ttie  pecaution  of  having  the  guards  know 
I  was  not  a  rebel  prisoner,  so  as  to  avoid  being  jug- 
ged with  the  prisoners. 

I  felt  somewhat  afraid  the  train  would  be  attack- 

[142] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


ed  by  the  rebel  raider,  Gen.  Forest,  which  was  the 
case  a  few  days  before. 

While  our  'train  stopped  at  Chickamauga,  the 
rebels  in  the  car  I  was  in  made  a  break  and  jumped 
out  of  the  car  doors. 

I  was  sure  Forest  had  arrived  and  felt  very  much 
worked  up  over  it;  but  on  going  to  the  car  door, 
saw  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  An  engine  with  a 
train  came  towards  ours  and  only  stopped  three  or 
four  feeti  from  us. 

We  arrived  in  Chatanooga  about  four  or  five  p.  m. 
and  I  went  to  the  Quartermaster  and  received  my 
transportation  ticket  to  Washington. 

I  then  went  to  the  Sanitary  Commission  who  gave 
me  everything  but  shoes. 

I  went  to  the  Tenessee  river  and  had  a  good  bath, 
put  on  the  new  clothes,  left  my  old  rig  on  the  river 
bank. 

I  have  often  since  been  sorry  that  I  did  not  go  to 
a  picture  gallery  and  have  my  picture  taken  in  the 
condition  and  rig  I  was  in. 

I  went  to  the  place  where  they  furnished  food 
and  lodging  for  the  soldiers  and  had  a  good  supper. 

I  realized  that  I  was  free  at  last  and  felt  very 
much  like  a  new  man  (or  boy  I  should  say.) 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-SIX. 

Among  the  Northern  People    Again — Visits   the 
Homes  of  His  Fellow  Prisoners. 

I  boarded  a  freight  train  that  niglht  for  Nash- 
ville, Tenn. 

We  went  through  part  of  Alabama  to  get  there; 
also  through  some  very  large  tunnels.  It  was  a 
slow  train  but  we  arrived  in  Nashville  in  the  morn- 
ing. 

I  spent  a  day  around  Nashville  and  from  what 
I  saw  I  concluded  it  was  a  tough  soldier  elememt 
there. 

I  took  'the  passenger  train  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  ar- 
riving there  in  the  morning  and  going  to  the  Quart- 
ermaster's department  I  got  a  pair  of  ^hoes,  which 
completed  my  outfit. 

At  Louisville  I  found  a  good  soldier's  rest  and  I 
think  I  staid  there  one  night. 

The  place  looked  like  Philadelphia  to  me  and  I 
was  beginning  to  take  considerable  pleasure  out  of 
my  trip,  although  I  did  not  have  a  cent  to  spend. 

I  could  go  without  eating  a  day  and  not  be  alarm- 
ed about  starving.  This  lesson  I  learned  while  in 
the  rebel  prison;  so  if  I  had  no  money,  I  was  all 
right. 

[144] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


My  railroad  ticket  was  all  I  needed  for  every  city 
had  a  soldier's  rest,  where  one  could  get  meals. 

I  left  Louisville  in  tihe  afternoon  and  arrived  at 
Columbus,  Ohio,  in  the  morning.  This  was  a  hand- 
some place,  but  after  a  couple  of  hours  I  left  for 
Cincinnati  and  finding  the  food  and  accommoda- 
tions so  good  I  staid  there  two  nights.  I  saw  con- 
siderable of  the  city. 

I  went  from  there  to  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  arriving 
there  in  the  night.  Near  the  depot  I  found  the 
best  soldier's  rest  I  had  been  to  yet.  I  had  a  fine 
supper  and  a  nice  bed;  this  place  was  conducted 
by  the  citizens. 

As  there  was  a  number  of  the  relatives  and 
friends  of  some  of  the  men  I  left  in  Andersonvillc 
prison  here,  I  intended  to  see  all  I  could ;  especially 
the  mother  and  brother  of  my  'tent  mate,  Lewis 
Winters,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  Pittsburg  and 
had  hosts  of  friends  there. 

I  first  called  on  his  half  brother,  a  Mr.  Smith, 
who  ran  a  butcher  market  opposite  the  depot>  Mr. 
Smith  was  more  than  pleased  to  see  me ;  and  in  less 
than  ten  minutes  I  had  a  large  audience  of  butchers 
who  all  knew  Winters.  I  had  to  answer  hundreds 
of  questions.  They  all  wanted  to  treat  me  and  feed 
me  but  as  I  had  a  good  breakfast  I  was  not  in  need. 

Mr.  Smith,  however,  gave  me  some  money  to  get 
my  hair  cut  and  the  fuzz  shaved  off  my  face.  The 
colored  barber,  seeing  how  bloated  I  was,  and  I 

[145] 


Tales  of  Waf  Times. 


sweat  so  while  he  was  doing  the  job,  said :  "You 
is  de  fattest  man  I  ever  shaved." 

After  this  I  presented  a  fairly  passable  appear- 
ance, although  my  feet  and  the  joints  of  my  limbs 
were  badly  swollen ;  but  for  all  that  I  was  on  a  high 
horse,  being  in  God's  country,  with  friends  nr»d 
plenty  to  eat. 

Mr.  Smith  brought  me  that  evening  to  see  a  num- 
ber of  families  whose  sons  were  in  Anderson  ville 
and  any  of  the  boys  that  I  knew  were  well  and  liv- 
ing I  told  them  about;  others  that  were  not  well 
or  in  the  hospital  I  could  not  do  more  'than  make 
the  best  of  it. 

We  called  on  Mrs.  Winters,  who  was  a  very  largo 
old  lady  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch,  and  used  the  ac- 
cent very  much. 

Mr.  Smith  said,  "Mother,  here  is  a  man  who  was 
with  Lewis  in  prison." 

The  old  lady  could  not  wait  for  more  and  said, 
"Ish  my  Lewis  living?  I  know  he  is  dead." 

I  explained  to  her  that  he  was  living,  but  went 
to  the  hospital  outside  of  the  prison  and  that  I  had 
not  seen  him  for  a  week  or  so  before  making  my  es- 
cape, 

I  was  very  much  in  doubt  of  her  seeing  him  again, 
but  did  not  say  so. 

Winters  was  one  of  the  best  athletes  in  Pittsburg. 
They  all  told  me  he  was  one  of  the  finest  built  men 
in  the  regiment,  standing  six  fee  or  over,  as 

[146] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Minds. 


straight  as  an  arrow,  and  weighed  about  225  pounds 
when  captured. 

When  he  went  to  the  hospital  at  Andersonville 
I  don't  think  he  weighed  over  140  pounds. 

Winters  lived  toj  come  home  and  went  into  busir 
ness  in  Pittsburg  after  the  war;  his  mo'ther  being 
wealthy,  gave  him  a  start. 

He  called  on  me  in  Philadelphia  in  1875  and 
staid  a  week  with  me. 

He  told  me  he  did  not  think  it  possible  for  any 
man  to  make  good  his  escape  from  Andersonville 
and  would  not  believe  I  made  my  escape  to  our 
lines,  but  for  my  calling  on  "his  folks  at  Pittsburg. 

He  was  not  like  his  former  self,  being  broken 
down  from  a  number  of  troubles. 

I  afterward  learned  that  he  died  at  the  hospital 
in  Pittsburg,  Nov.  4th,  1884,  from  consumption. 

Winters  was  a  man  who  took  great  interest  in  all 
kinds  of  sporting  matters  and  I  heard  that  he  did 
not  attend  as  closely  to  his  business  as  he  should 
on  that  account. 

He  was  one  of  the  original  parties  that  droye 
over  the  plains  to  Pikes  Peak,  the  time  of  the  gold 
excitement  before  the  war.  He  was  always  my 
best  friend  while  in  Andersonville;  and  on  the 
route  there  from  Richmond,  when  I  was  crippled 
with  rheumatism,  after  the  dogs  caught  me,  he 
looked  after  my  interests  as  if  I  were  a  brother 
or  a  son. 

[147] 


Talcs  of  Wat  Times. 


Mr.  Smith  had  me  stay  with  him  at  his  house 
and  brought  me  to  see  the  great  boat  race  be'tween 
Ward  and  Hammill  on  the  Monongahela  Kiver, 
about  where  Holmstead  now  stands. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-SEVEN. 

Finds  a  Felloto  Prisoner  and  Gets  an  Order  to  Re- 
port Again  to  His  Regiment. 

As  Gen.  Early,  the  rebel,  was  in  Maryland  and 
in  t!he  vicinity  of  Washington,  I  had  to  go  by  way 
of  Harrisburg,  Pa,  and  Baltimore  to  get  to  Wash- 
ington. 

After  getting  to  Washington  I  put  up  at  the 
soldier's  rest  at  the  B.  &  O.  depot.  The  hotel  ac- 
commodations here  were  not  up  to  the  standard; 
but  away  ahead  of  my  prison  fare.  One  feature  most 
of  the  soldiers  will  remember  about  this  place  is 
the  coffee  for  supper  very  often  having  a  quantity 
of  fat  on  the  top  of  it. 

This  was  caused  I  presume  by  the  cooks  not  wash- 
ing the  kettles  after  cooking  pork  or  beef  in  them. 

The  next  day  after  getting  to  Washington,  Con- 
nolly (who  made  his  escape  through  a  tunnel  at  An- 
dersonville  over  a  month  before  I  made  my  escape) 
came  to  the  soldier's  rest. 

We  of  course  were  chums  and  Connely  not  being 
well  pleased  with  the  fare,  proposed  that  we  should 
go  to  the  Adjacent  General's  office  at  the  War  De- 
partment and  see  what  they  would  do  for  us. 

We  called  on  Gen.  Thomas,  who  was  assistant 

[149] 


Tales  of  War  Times. 


Adjacent  General,  and  found  him  very  busy,  but 
he  took  time  to  hear  our  complaint. 

Connolly  was  the  talker  and  told  the  General 
about  the  salt  horse  coffee  and  such.  He  talked  so 
plain  about  it  and  made  such  a  bitter  complaint 
that  I  expected  the  General  would  call  the  guard 
and  put  us  out;  but  he  did  not.  He  said  'he  could 
not  give  us  any  relief,  but  advised  us  to  go  to  the 
Quartermaster's  department  and  they  might  re- 
lieve us,  which  we  did;  but  received  no  money  or 
satisfaction. 

I  often  thought  since  our  mistake  was  in  not  go- 
ing to  the  President,  Mr.  Lincoln. 

I  don't  think  Connolly  used  policy  enough  in  pre- 
senting our  case*  He  talked  to  them  as  indepen- 
dent as  he  would  or  did  to  Wirtz  at  Andersonville ; 
and  was  not  afraid  of  the  biggest  amongst  them. 

Some  one  directed  us  to  a  place  kept  by  the 
citizens  or  sanitary  commission  which  was  a  first 
class  place,  too.  They  would  not  take  in  every  one 
here  and  refused  us  at  first;  but  after  stating  our 
case  they  accepted  us  as  boarders  without  pay. 

In  the  meantime  I  met  Geo.  Simpson  (a  New 
York  state  boy)  of  my  company  and  we  went  to 
Georgetown,  to  call  on  our  former  Capt.  Merritit, 
who  had  resigned  his  commission  after  Bull  Bun 
battle  and  married  a  widow  in  Georgetown.  They 
conducted  a  hotel  and  restaurant. 


[150] 


Adventures  of  Tom  Hinds. 


The  captain  was  glad  to  see  us  and  we  had  a  flue 
dinner  with  him. 

After  dinner  I  told  "the  captain  we  were  strapped 
and  wanted  to  borrow  money  to  get  home.  He  said 
all  he  co-uld  spare  was  six  dollars  which'  foe  gave  to 
me.  I  gave  half  to  Simpson  and  thought  by  good 
cheek  I  could  get  to  Philadelphia  on  that  amount. 
After  a  stay  of  'ten  days  I  received  an  order  from 
the  War  Department  which  read  as  follows : 


War  Department,  Washington,  July  30,  1864, 
Adj.  Gen.  Office, 

Special  Order,  No.  254. 

Corporal  Thomas  Hinds,  company  A.  1st  Mary- 
land Cavalry  A.,  recently  escaped  prisoner  of  war, 
now  at  the  Soldier's  Rest,  Washington,  D.  C.,  will 
report  to  'the  commanding  officer  of  'his  regiment 
with  permission  to  delay  en  route  twenty  days.  The 
Quartermaster  will  furnish  the  necessary  transpor- 
tation. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Assistant  Adj.  Gen. 


Tales  of  Wat  Times. 


Both  Connolly  and  I  asked  for  a  furlough,  but  at 
that  time  I  understood  they  were  giving  none,  so 
we  had  to  be  content.  This  gave  nie  a  chance  to  go 
home  for  nearly  three  weeks. 

I  went  to  my  home  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and 
staid  the  limit  of  my  time. 

I  was  foolish  to  go  back  to  the  regiment  for  my 
condition  was  such  that  a  physician's  certificate 
would  have  left  me  at  home,  until  my  time  expired, 
in  about  six  weeks. 

I  will  always  remember  the  kindness  of  the 
slaves  to  me  during  my  five  weeks  travelling 
through  Georgia,  They  were  always  true  and  help- 
ed many  a  Union  soldier  in  distress.  I  will  always 
have  a  kindly  feeling  for  those  people;  but  for  them 
I  should  never  have  succeeded  in  making  my  final 
escape  to  Serman's  army. 


Appendix. 


200  APPENDIX. 


BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG. 

A  victory  of  the  Federals  under  General  Meade 
over  the  Confederates  under  Lee,  at  Gettysburg, 
Pennsylvania,  July  1-3,  1863.  General  Lee  while 
invading  Pennsylvania,  was  compelled  to  retreat 
by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  General  Meade, 
which  was  threatening  his  rear.  He  decided  to 
venture  a  battle,  expecting  in  case  of  victory  to 
march'  on  Washington,  and  in  case  of  defeat  to  se- 
cure a  direct  line  of  retreat  to  Virginia ;  and  gave 
orders  for  his  army  to  concentrate  at  Gettysburg. 
On  July  1  thie  Federal  advance  under  Major-Gener- 
al  Reynolds  met  the  Confederate  advance  at  Gettys- 
burg. An  engagement  ensued,  in  which  bo'tlh  sides 
were  reinforced.  Reynolds  was  killed,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  General  Howard,  who  maintained  his 
position  on  Cemetery  Hill,  south  of  the  town.  Gen- 
eral Meade  arrived  during  the  afternoon.  On  the 
2d  the  Federal  army  occupied  a  strong  position  in 
the  form  of  a  semicircle  with  its  convex  center  to- 
ward Gettysburg,  and  including  elevations  of  Ceme- 
tery Hill  and  Round  Top.  About  noon  Lee  began 
a  general  attack  on  the  Federal  center  and  left, 
which  was  followed  by  an  attack  on  the  right.  He 
lost  the  day  in  every  quarter.  The  battle  on  the 
2  demonstrated  that  the  key  to  General  Meade's 
position  was  Cemetery  Hill,  which  was  defended  by 


APPENDIX.  201 

a,  battery  of  about  80  guns.  Accordingly  on  the  3d, 
General  Lee  massed  upward  of  100  guns  on  Semin- 
ary Ridge,  with  which  he  opened  on  Cemetery  Hill 
about  1  p.  m.  The  bombardment*  whidi  lasted  an 
hour  and  a  half,  was  followed  by  two  grand  as- 
sault,'?, which  were  repulsed.  General  Lee  retired 
on  the  4th.  The  forces  engaged  during  this  three 
days'  battle  numbered  between  70,000  and  80,000 
on  each  side.  The  Federal  loss  was  2,834  killed, 
13,709  wounded,  and  6,643  missing,  making  a  total 
of  23,186.  The  total  Confederate  loss  was  31,621. 


BATTLE  OF  8HILOH. 

A  locality  in  Hardin  County,  Tennessee,  near 
Pitfrsburg  Landing,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  88 
miles  east  of  Memphis.  It  was  the  scene  of  the 
battle  of  Shiloh,  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  April  6  and 
7, 1862.  The  Federals  under  Grant  were  surprised 
by  the  Confederates  under  A.  S.  Johnston  and  forc- 
ed back  to  the  river.  Johnston  was  killed,  and 
Beauregard  succeeded  him.  On  the  7th  Grant  was 
reinforced  by  Buell's  army,  and  drove  the  Confeder- 
ates from  the  battle-field.  Loss  of  Federals,  13,573, 
including  1,735  killed;  loss  of  Confederates,  10,699. 


BATTLE  OF  FIVE  FORKS. 

A  place  in  Dinwiddie  County,  Virginia,  11  miles 
southwest  of  Petersburg.     Here,  April  1,  1865,  the 


202  APPENDIX. 

Federals  under  Sheridan  defeated  part  of  Lee's 
army.  The  loss  of  the  Federals  was  884 ;  of  the  Con- 
federates 8,500. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  VSILDERNESS. 

A  battle  between  the  Federals  and  Confederates, 
May  5-7, 1864,  in  the  Wilderness  region  in  Virginia, 
south  of  the  Bapidan.  The  Federals  (over  100,000) 
were  commanded  by  Grant  (immediately  by 
Meade),  and  the  Confederates  (64,000-68,000)  by 
Lee.  The  Confederate  position  was  partly  intrench- 
ed. The  Federal  loss  was  about  18,000;  the  Con- 
federate, about  11,000.  The  battle  was  followed  by 
that  of  Spottsylvania. 


BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM. 

A  small  river  in  Southern  Pennsylvania  and  west- 
ern Maryland,  which  joins  the  Potomac  6  miles 
north  of  Harper's  Ferry.  On  its  banks  near  S'harps- 
burg,  Sept.  17,  1862,  a  battle  (called  by  the  Con- 
federates the  battle  of  Sharpsburg)  was  fought  be- 
tween the  Federals  (87,164,  of  whom  about  60,000 
bore  'the  brunt  of  the  battle)  under  McClellan,  and 
the  Confederates  (40,000  according  to  Lee,  45,000 
to  70,000  according  to  Pollard,  97,000  according  to 
McClellan)  under  Lee.  The  total  loss  of  the  Union 
army  was  12,469  (2,010  killed)  ;  of  the  Confeder- 
ates, 25,899.  Other  estimates  of  the  Confederate 


APPENDIX.  203 

loss  are  9,000  to  12,000.  Lee  retreated  across  the 
Potomac  on  the  18th.  The  battle  isi  variously  des- 
cribed as  a  Federal  victory  and  as  indescisive. 


BATTLE  OF  ATLANTA. 

A  victory  gained  east  of  Atlanta,  July  22,  1864, 
by  the  Federals  under  Sherman  over1  the  Confeder- 
ates under  Hood  (who  had  made  a  sortie  from  the 
city).  Federal  loss,  about  3,600  (including  Gener- 
al McPherson). 


BATTLE  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN. 

A  part  of  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  a  Federal 
victory  won  by  General  Grant  over  the  Confederates 
under  Bragg.  In  the  storming  of  Lookout  Moun- 
tain, Nov.  24,  1863,  the  Federals  were  under  the 
immediate  command  of  Hooker,  and  advanced  up 
ithe  northern  face.  Owing  to  the  'heavy  mist  on  the 
mountain-side,  the  battle  is  often  called  "the  bat- 
tle above  the  clouds." 


MONITOR  AND  MERRIMAC. 
Monitor.  An  iron-clad  steam  battery,  consisting 
of  an  iron  hull  covered  by  a  projecting  deck,an  d 
surmounted  by  a  revolving  turret  protecting  the 
guns,  designed  by  John  Ericsson.  Her  commander 
was  Lieutenant  J.  L.  Worden,  and  her  executive  of- 


204  APPENDIX. 

iicer  Lieutenant  S.  D.  Greene.  She  was  launched 
at  Greenpoint,  New  York,  Jan.  30.  1862,  and  arriv- 
ed at  Fort  Monroe  in  the  evening  of  March  8,  1862. 
On  March  9  occurred  the  battle  between  the  Moni- 
tor and  the  Merrimac,  which  resulted  in  a  draw 
that  was  equivalent  to  a  victory  for  the  Monitor. 
She  afterward  joined  the  successful  expedition  com- 
manded by  Captain  John  Kodgers  against  Fort 
Darling,  near  Kichmond,  and  was  sunk  off  Cape 
Hatteras  on  her  way  to  Beaufort,  South  Carolina, 
Dec.  29, 1862.  Sixty  vessels  were  built  or  projected 
on  her  plan  during  the  war.  The  modern  improved 
battleship  is  a  combination  of  the  Monitor  and 
Merrimac  types.  Her  dimension  were:  length  of 
hull,  124  feet;  beam  of  hull,  34  feet;  length  of  deck, 
172  feet;  width  of  deck,  41  feet;  draught,  11  feet; 
linside  diameter  of  turret,  20  feet;  height  of  turret, 
9  feet;  thickness  of  turret  armor,  8  inches;  thick- 
ness of  side  armor,  5  inches ;  thickness  of  deck  arm- 
or, 1  inch ;  thickness  of  pilot-house  armor,  9  inches. 
Armament,  2  11-inch  Dahlgren  guns,  throwing  180- 
pound  shot. 

Merrimac.  A  40-gun  screw  frigate  built  for  the 
United  States  government  in  1855.  On  April  19, 
1861,  the  Norfolk  navy  yard  was  abandoned  by  the 
Federal  government,  and  the  ships  there,  including 
(the  Merrimac,  were  sunk.  The  hull  was  raised  by 
the  Confederates  and  cut  down  to  the  berth-deck. 
On  the  midsMp  section  a  casemate  of  timber  170 


APPENDIX.  205 

feet  long  was  built,  protected  by  a  double  iron  plat- 
ing 4  inches  thick.  The  prow  was  of  castiron.  She 
was  named  'the  Virginia,  and  was  commanded  by 
Commodore  Franklin  Buchanan.  On  March  8, 
1862,  she  destroyed  the  Congress  (a  sailing  ship  of 
50  guns)  and  the  Cumberland  (a  sailing  ship  of  30 
guns)  at  Newport  News.  On  March  9  she  attacked 
the  Minnesota,  and  was  met  by  the  Monitor,  which 
had  arrived  the  night  before.  The  battle  lasted 
from  8  a.  m.  until  noon,  and  resulted  in  favor  of 
the  Monitor. 


BULL  RUN. 

A  small  river  in  eastern   Virginia,   which   joins 
the  Occoquan    (a   tributary   of  the  Potomac )  25 
miles  southwest  of  Washinton.     Near  it  occurred 
two  battles  in  the  American  Civil  War.     (a)  The 
Confederates   under   the   immediate   command   of 
Beauregard  (about  31,000)  defeated  tlhe  Federals 
under  McDowell    (about  28,000),  July  21,  1861. 
Loss  of    Federals,    2,952 ;    of  Confederates,  1,752. 
Called  by  Confederates  the  first  battle  of  Manassas. 
(b).     The  Confederates  under  Lee  (about  46,000) 
defeated  the  Federals  under  Pope  (about  35,000), 
Aug.  29-30,  1862.     Loss  of  Federals,  about  15,000 
(?) ;  of  Confederates,  8,400.     Called  by   the   Con- 
federates the  second  battle  of  Manassas.     The  bat- 
!tle  of  Aug.   29  is  sometimes  styled   the  battle  of 
Groveton. 


206  APPENDIX. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

A  past  office  in  Spottsylviana  County,  Va.,  55 
miles  northwest  of  Richmond.  Here,  May  2-4, 1863, 
the  Confederates  (about  65,000)  under  Lee  defeated 
the  Federals  (132,000)  under  Hooker.  Loss  of  the 
Federals,  16,030 ;  of  the  Confederates,  12,281  (in- 
eluding  "Stonewall"  Jackson). 

FORT  FISHER. 

A  fortification  between  Cape  Fear  River  and  the 
Atlantic,  situate  18  miles  south  of  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  It  was  attacked  by  'the  Federals 
under  Terry  Jan.  13,  and  was  carried  by  storm  Jan. 
15,  1865.  The  Federal  loss  (Jan.  13-15)  was  955; 
the  Confederate,  2,483. 


CEDAR  CREEK. 

A  stream  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  Virginia, 
which  joins  the  Shenandoah  4  miles  from  Stras- 
burg.  Here,  Oct.  19,  1864,  the  Confederates  under 
Early  surprised  the  Federals  under  Wright.  Later 
jin  the  day  the  Confederates  were  defeated  by  Sheri- 
dan. Loss  of  the  Federals,  5,995 ;  of  the  Confeder- 
ates, 4,200. 


KEN E SAW  MOUNTAIN. 
A  mountain  in  Cobb  County,  Georgia,  25  miles 


APPENDIX.  207 

northwest  of  Atlanta.  It  was  the  scene  of  fighting 
between  the  Federals  under  Sherman  and  the  Con- 
federates under  Johnston,  June  1864. 


The  capital  of  James  City  County,  Virginia,  sit- 
uated between  James  and  York  rivers,. 46  miles  east- 
southeast  of  Richmond.  It  is  the  seat  of  William 
and  Mary  College;  and  succeeded  Jamestown  as 
the  capital  of  Virginia,  remaining  such  down  to 
Revolutionary  times.  A  victory  was  gained  there, 
May  5, 1862,  by  a  part  of  McClellan's  army  ( Hook- 
er, Kearny,  Smith)  over  the  Confederates  under 
Johnston.  Population  (1890)  1,831. 


FALL  OF  PETERSBURG. 

A  city  in  Dinwiddie  County,  Virginia,  situated 
on  the  Appomattox,  at  the  head  of  stream  naviga- 
tion, 23  miles  south  of  Richmond.  It  is  the  third 
city  in  the  state;  has  important  trade  in  tobacco, 
cotton,  flour,  grain,  etc.;  has  manufactures  of  to- 
bacco, cotton,  etc.  It  was  incorporated  in  1748.  It 
was  beseiged  by  the  Federals  under  Grant  1864-65. 
After  some  unsuccessful  attempts  to  seize  it,  the 
siege  commenced  June  19,  1864.  Final  operations 
began  March  25,  1865 ;  and  after  the  battle  of  Five 
Forks  (March  31  and  April  1)  it  was  evacuated  by 


208  APPENDIX. 

the  Confederates  April  2-3,  and  surrendered  April 

3.     Population  (1890),  22,680. 

BATTLE  OF  WINCHESTER. 

A  victory  gained  by  the  Federals  under  Sheridan 
over  the  Confederates  under  Early,  Sept.  19,  1864. 
The  Federal  loss  was  4,990;  the  Confederate  loss, 
5,500.  Also  called  battle  of  Opequan. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9 — 15m-10,'48(B1039)444 


UNIVERSITY  ol  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


EG01  Hinds- 


H58t  Tales  of  war 
times. 


E601 


